Beware of Strangers
by Saotoshi
Summary: Even after the war, the G-boys can’t escape the fighting. An anonymous group of political radicals are looking to find the identity of the war heroes. By what means? By foul and fair alike. It seems that now, things are worse.
1. Peace Reigns Supposedly

/B/e/w/a/r/e/

\O\f\

/S/t/r/a/n/g/e/r/s/

By: Saotoshi

Summary: Even after the war, the G-boys can't escape the fighting. Now an anonymous group of political radicals are looking to find the identity of the war heroes. By what means? By foul and fair alike. It seems that now, things are worse. For in the war days, they knew whom to trust. Now, ever stranger is a suspect, every greeting possible of a double meaning.

Disclaimer: I don't own this, yadda yadda yadda. You guys should really already know this. But, I'll put it up for those of you slow enough to not know, and because it's kinda required. In any case, I also don't own the songs, either. Just so you know. I'll try to keep up with this, and have at least one chapter up every week or so. Bear with me, though, because I have a lot of other things going on, too. Rating is due to change at any time. Enjoy!

/C/h/a/p/t/e/r/

\O\n\e\

Peace Reigns…Supposedly

"Many lives have already been lost. Now is the time to move forward and away from senseless violence. It is time for our soldiers to know a time of tranquil rest. Peace will help ensure this, thus toward peace is what we move forward to-"

Duo shut the television off, successfully cutting short Miss Relena Dorlian's peace lecture at the Peace Reigns Conference in Wales. Most channels were broadcasting the lecture, making it the only form of entertainment available on the television. Frankly, though he agreed with her ideals, the soldier Duo Maxwell couldn't stand to listen to her lectures. Truth be told, he couldn't even sit for one. He preferred the abridged version given by word of mouth on the streets, unless, of course, he had trouble sleeping. In that case, he was all ears!

As he set the remote on the arm of the plush, red couch he sat on, the sound of the front door being opened came to his ears. Almost immediately, he slid to a crouch beside the couch next to his bag, listening intently. Duo had to strain his ears to hear any approach, though it seemed the other person was cautious in his advance toward the living room. Then, deciding to go on instinct, Duo pulled out the gun from where he'd taken to hiding it under the waistband of his pants. A habit of Heero's that he had picked up.

Counting to five slowly, Duo stood up quickly, gun aimed at the room's entrance from the front hall, where there was a gun trained on him, too. It took Duo a matter of two seconds to realize whom the one visible green eye belonged to. He twirled the gun on his finger once before replacing it at his back.

"Hey Trowa," he greeted, throwing himself back onto the couch. "Don't you know its rude for guests to be pointing guns in other people's homes?"

Trowa put his own gun away as he said, "This isn't your place, though." He had a bag in one hand and he set it down by the hall.

"Details, details," said Duo with a dismissive wave. "So, how's life? Where's Quatre?"

Trowa sat down at a counter that looked in at the kitchen. There were three stools there lined up. He sat on the middle one, facing Duo, leaning against the counter.

"Life's been fine. Somewhat boring at times," Trowa admitted. "Though I prefer the boredom over the war."

"I hear ya," Duo conceded. He was about to ask about Quatre again when he noticed someone walking into the room. For a moment, his breath caught and his heart skipped a beat. Regaining his composure, he said casually, "Heero? I didn't even hear you come in."

Heero didn't utter a word. Instead, he sat down with his bag on the love seat that was left of the couch, directly in front of the front hall, in plain view of the front door. In a barely perceptible nod, he greeted Trowa, acknowledging his presence. Barely five minutes later, they heard the front door open again and the voices of the last two of their group of five floated in towards them. They set their own bags by Trowa's.

"Well, it's nice to see you all here," Wufei said. Quatre took a seat by Duo on the couch. "I asked you guys to meet me here because I've recently heard of some troubling news."

Duo stifled a yawn. If it weren't for the fact that he knew that Wufei no longer worked for Preventers, he would have sworn that this was an attempt to recruit them. There had been many by Wufei in the approximate year he had been in it. Perhaps twice as many, though, by Sally Po and Lady Une.

"It seems we're being hunted," Wufei said, blunt as usual.

"What do you mean, 'hunted'?" Quatre asked.

"I mean that there is someone out there trying to hunt us down," Wufei explained. "Sally Po is looking into it, but as of yet, no one has a clue as to who it is, or why they're searching for us."

"Could it be to start another war?" Trowa contemplated.

"Possibly," Wufei said. "Or they could want to record our fighting techniques like OZ did with Yuy and you."

"So what do you have in mind, Wu-man?" Duo asked.

"Well, originally, Miss Po suggested we just go about our lives normally," said Wufei. "However, the problem with that is none of us are ever quite sure where to reach the other, so if something occurred, we wouldn't get wind of it until it was too late.

"We all can't transfer into a school. At least, not the same one, it would look too suspicious, and somewhat obvious. Like shining a beacon of light and announcing 'We're here, come and get us'."

"I think we should go with Miss Po's idea," Heero suggested. "But we must check in with each other at least once a week. If someone fails to check-in, then one of us will investigate. For example, if Duo were to not check in, Trowa would investigate his whereabouts. If it were Trowa, then Quatre would go; if Quatre, then Wufei; if Wufei, then I would-"

"And if you go missing, I'll come to the rescue!" Duo said dramatically, fist at his chest in a heroic motion.

Quatre sniggered as Heero shook his head muttering, "Baka."

"How are we to check in?" Trowa asked.

"I'll set something up, just give me an hour," Heero said, standing up to go. "Just be here then so I can explain."

"I'll come with you," Trowa said.

The two silent young men walked out of the apartment meeting spot that had been arranged by Wufei. Wufei went to the kitchen and started taking things out of the pantry and refrigerator to prepare dinner. Quatre looked over at Duo who realized he had something to ask.

"What's going on between you and Trowa?" Duo asked.

"Nothing," Quatre said.

"Are you kidding? After the Mariemaya incident, I would have bet my life that you two would end up together!" said a shocked Duo. "Do you like him?" Quatre shrugged, cheeks tinted pink. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"Duo, don't do anything," Quatre said. "Don't do or say anything to Trowa. I forbid you."

Duo sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Thank you," Quatre said sincerely. He reached over Duo and took the remote control and turned on the television. "Oh, Miss Relena's still is speaking."

"To your question, Mr. Koikawa, as to why I am so concerned for ex-soldiers? There were a few I knew personally. One of whom I saw continuously, for he was always saving my life. It is for soldiers like him and the others that I worry about. They've spent so much time fighting, now that there is no fighting to be done, they don't know what to do with themselves. I've seen ex-soldiers living on the street, struggling to make enough to make it from day-to-day. That's why I'm so concerned with how we treat them, despite what side they fought on in the wars. That's the past, and we need to move on toward the future-"

Quatre turned to say something to Duo, but the braided you man was fast asleep. He had meant to ask him about his own luck with Heero, if there was anything there. On Duo's part, it was somewhat obvious that he cared for the silent former pilot. However, Heero never showed any emotion, it was questionable as to whether he actually had any, so no one could fathom his feelings toward Duo.

"I think you're in a worse bind than I am, my friend," Quatre said, not unkindly, as he shut off Relena's lecture for the second time that day.

* * *

_I'm tugging at my hair_  
_I'm pulling at my clothes  
I'm trying to keep my cool  
I know it shows  
I'm staring at my feet  
My cheeks are turning red  
I'm searching for the words  
Inside my head  
'Cause I'm feeling nervous  
Trying to be so perfect  
'Cause I know you're worth it  
You're worth it, yeah

* * *

_When Heero returned, he had a Motorola cell phone for each of them. Each was personalized, though not in a way to reveal their former profession. Wufei's was white with a green, yellow and red dragon spreading across the front and back that made the complete reptile when it was flipped open. Quatre's had a desert scene on his, with rolling sand dunes. Trowa's had a mafia man on the back with a gun that had a silencer on it. Duo's had a little devil holding a scythe and Heero's had white angel wings on it. 

"All the numbers are the same except for the fifth and sixth digit. Mine is 618-5019," Heero said, then added, "But you have to memorize it. No one else should know it but us."

"So mine would be 618-5049?" Quatre asked.

"Hai."

"All right. We have each other's number, but how are we going to do this?" Wufei asked.

"I'll check in with you on Mondays and on Tuesdays you'll call Duo to check-in. He in turn will call Quatre on Wednesdays, Quatre will call Trowa on Thursdays, who'll call me on Fridays," Heero explained. "Seems a bit more complicated than necessary, I know, but better to be overly cautious."

"Sounds good to me," announced Duo, putting his new phone in his pocket. "Now, can we eat?"

Heero nodded as Quatre shook his head with a smile. Duo went and sat down at the table that was off the side of the living room. Trowa and Quatre followed, leaving one empty chair that Heero declined as he went over to the seat Trowa had occupied earlier at the counter. Wufei set a bowl of vegetable lo mein (the only thing he could whip up in such short notice), in front of all of them.

"So, Hee-chan, what've you been up to?" Duo asked before putting a healthy portion of his lo mein in his mouth.

"Designing a firewall security program for this company," Heero replied.

"Really, you're so in love with your laptop," Duo muttered. "Well, I've been helping Hilde back on L2, but I was getting bored, and she really didn't need me much anymore."

"Helping her on what?" Quatre asked.

"Oh, she's opening a garage. Hilde's really good at fixing machinery of all kinds, from cars and motorcycles to mobile suits," Duo informed them. "I talked to her the other day, seems like she was getting in this really big project. Words getting around that she's one of the best mechanics in all the colonies."

"I've been helping my sisters with the business," Quatre said as he watched the noodles on his plate tangle in his fork. Only Wufei and Heero were using chopsticks. "I'm suppose to take it over, but I don't know. I don't like being in the spotlight that much. Besides, some of the girls have always wanted a hand at the business."

"What about you, Trowa?" Duo asked.

Trowa, who had finished and was about to put his plate in the sink, paused in his mission to the kitchen. "I was at the circus doing the old act with Catherine, but I don't know. It's not what I want right now."

Before he could be asked, Wufei said, "You already know I've recently quit Preventers. Mostly because moronic, fawning amateurs who were constantly pestering me about what had I done in the war that made me so good at this or that. Perhaps my refusal only made it worse," he said contemplatively. "In any case, the 'final straw' was Miss Po. The damn onna never left me alone!"

"Wu-man has an admirer," Duo teased.

Wufei rolled his eyes, "No matter. While there are aspects of her personality that can be admired, overall, I find her annoying and boring."

"And I thought Heero was harsh," Duo said to Quatre in a whisper.

_

* * *

If I could say what I wanna say  
__I'd say I wanna blow you away  
__Be with you every night  
__Am I squeezing you too tight?  
__If I could say what I wanna see  
__I wanna see you go down on one knee  
__Marry me today  
__Guess I'm wishing my life away  
__With these things I'll never say

* * *

_

"Trowa, I'm not sure as to whether you feel the same or not, but I like you. I think I may love you. I've felt this way for a long time. Before the end of the first war, actually. I know this is somewhat forward of me, but I wanted to know how you felt. To know whether I have any hope, or if I'm just wasting my time," Quatre finished, eyes downcast.

It was some time past midnight, a time in the night when all was engulfed in an eerie, ethereal silence. Outside, the stars sparkled at them from light years away. Separated from a certain blond young man and his current dilemma. Quatre looked up at his reflection in the bathroom mirror with a sigh. Did he honestly want to say that to Trowa? No. He sighed again, mind wandering toward the young man asleep not too far from the open bathroom. Quatre was sure that he, and the other three, were fast asleep, or he would have padlocked the bathroom door shut.

Suddenly, a hand came down on his should and Quatre stifled the urge to "eep!" He knew it had to be one of the other former pilots. Not even a cat-like, stealth _anything_ (agent, thief, spy, cat, etc.) would make it through one of the windows or the door without having quite a few guns, knives and/or various other weapons trained on them. Slowly, and at the same time trying to slow his breathing, Quatre turned to come face-to-face with…

…Heero!

"You scared me," Quatre admitted on a sigh of relief.

"Thought I was Trowa?" Heero asked in his usual monotone. Quatre flushed. "I think you'd have better luck saying these things to him rather than the mirror."

"I was sorta practicing," Quatre muttered. "I don't know if I should say any of it to him."

Over the mirror were two rows of light bulbs. The bottom row was made up of four small bulbs, while the top row was of eight larger bulbs. It was by the bottom row, with its dim lighting, that Quatre could see Heero's emotionless gaze.

"I don't know anything about this kind of thing," Heero said. "But I think you should take the chance and tell him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Quatre said. He stood there for a moment, quietly staring at his feet while he thought. He opened his mouth and looked up, ready to say something to Heero, but he wasn't there anymore. Quatre shook his head, looking back to his reflection. "Guess I'm back to square one," he muttered before shutting off the light.

* * *

_It don't do me any good_  
_It's just a waste of time  
__What use is it to you  
__What's on my mind?  
__If it ain't coming out  
__We're not going anywhere  
__So why can't I just tell you  
__That I care?  
__'Cause I'm feeling nervous  
__Trying to be so perfect  
__'Cause I know you're worth it  
__You're worth it, yeah

* * *

_

"So do any of you have a clue what you're going to do?" Duo asked the next day during breakfast.

"Well, age-wise, we're suppose to be in our last year of high school," Wufei said. "So I guess I'll go to some school in Asia perhaps and pass off as a student, at least until we find out more about these threats."

"That's a good idea. Perhaps I'll go back to Arabia and do the same," Quatre said quietly.

"I'm not sure yet," Trowa admitted. "Then again, one alone individual entering a school isn't that suspicious."

"That's true," Duo conceded. "But I'd want to go to the good ol' U. S. of A. Don't get me wrong, England's cool, but America calls."

Wufei looked at his watch and stood up. "Yes, well, I have a flight in two hours, so I have to be heading out. It was nice to see you all again, be careful. I'll be waiting for your call on Monday, Yuy."

Heero nodded his head in agreement as Wufei set his plate in the kitchen. Wufei went back to the room he'd slept, got the few things he'd brought with him, and then came back out. With a nod to the four ex-soldiers, he left. The others finished eating, with Duo idly chatting with one or the other in between mouthfuls of food. When they were done, Quatre offered to do the dishes, leaving the others to do as they pleased.

Heero sat down on the couch and opened his laptop, setting it down on his lap. He unlocked his files with a series of passwords and was about to continue working on his half-done firewall when Trowa came over and interrupted.

"Will you do me a favor?" he asked. Heero gave a slight no and Trowa continued, "Look at the school's around here. Preferably ones with dorms."

Heero nodded and set to work. He knew afterwards Trowa would need to be enrolled into the school, so he mentally began building a background for him.

* * *

_If I could say what I wanna say_  
_I'd say I wanna blow you away  
__Be with you every night  
__Am I squeezing you too tight?  
__If I could say what I wanna see  
__I wanna see you go down on one knee  
__Marry me today  
__Guess I'm wishing my life away  
__With these things I'll never say

* * *

_

Duo hung his head upside down over the edge of the bed, his right ear pressed to his Motorola phone. As he waited for a reply on the other end, his thoughts went to the stoic young man who never was too far from his mind. Heero hadn't said what he was planning on doing. Perhaps Duo should ask him to accompany him to America. There was a chance Heero would flat out tell him no, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

His thoughts returned to Earth when for the third time in two weeks he got the answering machine. It informed him, not for the first time, that Hilde was working on a big project, so she'd be unavailable a lot, but she'd get back to whoever was calling as soon as possible.

"Hey, Hilde, it's your favorite G-boy! Where you been? Been trying to get a hold of you. I'll call you some time next week. Try to be home more, okay? Love ya, bye."

Duo hung up and turned onto his stomach and lifted his head. He tapped his chin with the antennae of the cell phone thoughtfully. He had never known Hilde to be out so much, miss so many calls, and not call back. In the apartment he'd gotten in a small city in America, he had put a phone and answering machine as soon as possible, and given Hilde the number. That way, she could always communicate with him. Even when he wasn't there, he checked the messages on a regular basis.

He stood up and went over to the living room. Heero was on the couch with his laptop, of course, with Trowa next to him. Duo sat down on the love seat and leaned forward to get the remote, which was resting upon the coffee table. He turned it on and groaned when a familiar voice flowed from the speakers.

"The school will be called Marquise Academy, after my brother's alias. It's named for him in his honor, and I wish him well, wherever he may be at this moment. He-"

Once again, Duo shut the television off, impatiently throwing the remote control back onto the hardwood coffee table.

"Jeez, two days in a row," he complained. "Ruined my TV viewing two days in a row."

"Hm, I didn't know she was starting a school," Trowa said.

"She's not," Heero informed. "It was originally going to be called Dorlian Academy and was being built in _her_ honor, for she still has a year of high school, remember. However, she asked for it to be renamed. When it's done, top students from all over the world will be invited to attend. It's supposed to shape future leaders."

"Sounds like something she'd support," Quatre said coming out of the kitchen. Duo saw Quatre's gaze move toward Trowa and linger there until Trowa turned in his direction, when Quatre immediately turned back into the kitchen. Trowa watched for a moment before bringing his attention back to Heero and his laptop.

Duo rolled his eyes. If Quatre hadn't forbidden him from doing anything, he would've gotten up and shaken them both. Seriously, the only person more blind than them was Heero.

* * *

_What's wrong_  
_With my song  
__These words keep slipping away  
__I stutter  
__I stumble  
__Like I've got nothing to say_

_'Cause I'm feeling nervous  
__Trying to be so perfect  
__'Cause I know you're worth it  
__You're worth it, yeah_

_If I could say what I wanna say  
__I'd say I wanna blow you away  
__Be with you every night  
__Am I squeezing you too tight?  
__If I could say what I wanna see  
__I wanna see you go down on one knee  
__Marry me today  
__Guess I'm wishing my life away  
__With these things I'll never say_

_These things I'll never say…_

Avril Lavigne "Things I'll Never Say"


	2. Plans

\B\e\w\a\r\e\

/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s\

Disclaimer: I own only the dark haired dude and the pizza guy, that's it. Sad, I know.

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r\

/T/w/o/

Plans

"So what are we doing for lunch?" Duo asked. "It is our last meal together for who knows how long?"

"I'm not much of a cook," Quatre admitted. "So unless one of you are, perhaps one of us should get some Chinese food."

Duo nodded his head in agreement. He looked over at Heero who was typing away at his computer. Trowa was in the shower and would be leaving soon after they had lunch for a private school not _too_ far away. He'd have to take a two-hour bus drive, but he'd get there before dinner. Quatre had made flight arrangements soon after that announcement for his trip back to Arabia where his family was. Duo, and Heero as far as they knew, were the only ones not sure where they were going yet, or at least to not yet have arrangements made.

"Hey, Hee-chan, you listening?" Duo asked. Heero looked up at him and Duo repeated Quatre's suggestion.

"Takeout sounds fine," he said in his usual monotone. He stood up. "There's a place Trowa and I passed by yesterday about a block away."

"I'll go with you," Duo said. It was a perfect chance for Quatre to say something to Trowa before they parted ways.

"U-uh, okay," said Quatre, suspecting Duo's reason for going (with good reason).

"Let's go then," Heero said. He closed his laptop and put it on the coffee table before heading for the door, Duo bouncing about behind him.

When the door shut, Quatre gulped. He couldn't help but think that the sound of the door shutting was similar to that of doom. Of the prison door shutting a prisoner in the cell he's bound to live in the rest of his life, or until he were executed. But that was ridiculous. This was nothing like that. This was opportunity. A chance to finally be honest with Trowa, the one who'd captured his heart.

Why then did the petite blond have an urge to jump out the window?

**Stop overreacting!** Quatre ordered himself. **Just relax.**

He went over to the couch, picked up the remote, and sat down as he turned the television on. He gaped at the TV when the screen cleared and the picture was visible. Miss Relena was _still_ on! He closed his mouth and tried to focus on what she was saying, but his eyelids kept lowering. He was thinking random thoughts as his eyes finally closed.

**I should tell him…**being the final one.

* * *

_They blazed a trail I dared to run_  
_They built this world and I have come  
__I need another, like a brother, for a cryin' shoulder  
__This could be the last time  
__You will stand by my side  
__I can feel my soul it's bleeding  
__Will you fly with me this evening?

* * *

_

Many times Duo opened his mouth to say something to Heero, but his voice caught every time. It wasn't just anything he wanted to say. He wanted to ask Heero to come with him when he left. He hadn't been to a school passing off as a student since their last mission together at one, before the second war. Duo had grown so accustomed to sharing a dorm room with the silent and tidy perfect soldier, that the thought of having one without him seemed impossible.

Out of nowhere, Duo felt an arm across his chest. He looked down and followed it up to Heero.

"You nearly walked straight into the street," Heero said by way of explanation, removing his arm. "You need to pay attention to where you're going."

"Aw, nice to know you care, Hee-chan," Duo said with a grin.

"Baka," Heero said in reply, which only made Duo's grin widen.

Soon, they reached the Chinese Food Place, which was actually what it was called. People nowadays had such great imaginations. They entered and Heero ordered, Duo throwing in a few things for good measure. They sat down at an unoccupied table to wait for their order. Duo knew now was as good a time as any, but he didn't know how to start.

**I guess I can see Quatre's dilemma,** Duo thought with a mental sigh.

As he gathered his thoughts, and his courage, Duo studied his surroundings. They were sitting at a small table with a Formica top. It was light green in color, matching the leather seats they sat on. The floor was tiled, a light peach in color much like the walls. Their table was the first in a line of three along this wall, with another three directly across along the opposite wall. On one side of the table, in the direction of the other two on the same side, were the floor-to-ceiling windows that went across the front, the entrance right in the middle. On the opposite side was the kitchen, the counter and register where you ordered, and one of those refrigerators with a window door that displayed sodas and juices inside.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked suddenly.

"Huh? Nothing," Duo said, somewhat confused. "Why do you ask?"

Heero shrugged. "You're usually not so quiet for this long."

"Well, I was thinking," said Duo. Heero raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey, I think! I was just wondering if…"

Duo trailed off and looked down at his hands in his lap. Heero was looking at him, waiting for the rest, not sure what to make of his awkward behavior. Taking a deep breath, Duo looked up and plunged ahead.

"Heero, do you wanna come with me when I go back to the U.S.?" he asked.

Heero was silent for a moment, in which Duo imagined him thinking of ways to say no. God was he stupid for asking. He should have known Heero would have better things to do, better places to go…

"Sure," he said. He looked past Duo as a woman called them up to take their order. As Heero paid for and picked up their food, Duo sat gaping. Had he just heard correctly? "Come on, Duo, so I can get some tickets for tonight or tomorrow."

"Yes sir!" Duo bounced out of his chair. Nothing could make him happier at this moment. He bounded about Heero happily as they walked back toward the rented apartment. The entire time, chatting non-stop.

* * *

_Sober mind time now is gone  
__They carved my body not of stone  
__A petty maze of emptiness  
__I've said to hell with all the rest_

_

* * *

_

"You can trust me, I'll let him know you're here," said a voice in the shadows.

Hilde tried vainly to make out a figure, but her room was almost completely covered in darkness. The only light was above her, in the corner where her bed was located. She desperately wanted to have Duo come help her, but not at the risk of these people discovering that he was a Gundam pilot.

"I don't want him to know," Hilde lied, defiance in her tired voice. "He may be an ex-soldier, but there's no way he could help me. He's not one of those Gundam guys you're looking for, or I'd ask you to get him in a second."

"He doesn't know anyone who can help you?" the voice asked.

Hilde was able to determine that she was talking to a guy. She wasn't sure if she could trust him or not. He didn't sound like the other guys she'd spoken with.

"Do you want to be forced to build this mobile suit?" he suddenly asked her.

"No," Hilde answered immediately. That was the reason they'd abducted her. These people were planning on building their own Gundams, superior to the ones destroyed after the Mariemaya incident. As far as she knew, they were searching for the pilots, though why was still unclear to her. "You'll find him and tell him where I'm at?"

"Yes, but hurry, they'll be wondering where I'm at," he urged.

"Why are you helping me, though?" Hilde asked.

"Because they've gone too far," he replied.

"His name's Maxwell," Hilde said. She went on to give the guy his address and phone number. She was desperate to get out of here, and soon.

"Thank you," he said, his voice suddenly sending cold chills down Hilde's back. "This friend of yours left a message on your machine calling himself a 'G-boy'. Now, thanks to you, I can check for myself to see if he's one of the Gundam pilots."

"But I told you he's not!" Hilde objected, trying her hardest not to go into hysterics, or break down at having given up her best friend.

"You could be lying."

"Just…don't hurt him, okay?" Hilda asked. She got no reply as the door to her room/cell was closed.

**Oh, Duo, I'm so sorry,** she cried inwardly. Outwardly, she shed no tear; she made no hint that she had possibly betrayed a good friend of hers. She simply lay down on her cot in the corner of the dark room. To all outward appearances, she was concerned about her friend, but not worried that his life would possibly be in danger. But inwardly, it was tearing her apart. She was breaking down inside, beating herself for her desperate actions. She prayed that Duo would be all right.

* * *

_This could be the last time  
__You will stand by my side  
__I can feel my soul it's bleeding  
__Will you fly with me this evening?_

_

* * *

_

Trowa turned the water off as he finished his shower. Steam rose about him in swirls as the last of the hot water disappeared down the drain. He had tried to prolong the shower as long as possible. When he was on the bus, he'd find this agony easier to deal with. He grabbed the towel he had put on top of the toilet seat and towel dried his hair and the rest of his wet body before wrapping the towel around his waist. Picking his clothes up off the floor, he padded out of the bathroom.

It was the first room, the bathroom, on the left of a hallway that branched from the living room. Further down the hall were three rooms. Trowa had been sharing with Wufei the night before, but now he had it to himself. He went left down the hall toward the room, the sound of the television reach his ears. Trowa was starting to see Duo's point as he realized he was hearing Relena's voice. Were they actually sitting there, listening to her?

Trowa opened the bag he'd had with him. It had all he needed, including clothes, tightly rolled to fit in the medium-sized bag. He pulled out what he guessed you could call his favorite outfit. It was more that he was most comfortable in it then that he liked how he looked in it. He put what he had previously worn into his bag before putting on the green turtleneck and jeans. He came out of the room, Relena's voice still filling the apartment.

Trowa walked down the hall and stopped when the entire living room was visible. As he looked down on the couch, he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat in his chest. Quatre was lying down on it, asleep, his left hand curled around the television remote, his other arm serving as a temporary pillow. A quick look about showed that they were the apartment's only occupants.

Trowa stood there for a while, watching his companion sleep serenely. Quatre looked like some divine being. Perhaps an angel who just passes by who decided to take a short nap. It would be hard for anyone to see the petite blond at such a vulnerable moment and not think they were gazing upon an angel. After another minute or two, Trowa went over to the desert prince and gently pried the remote from his hand. He turned the television off and put the remote on the coffee table by Heero's laptop. He stooped down in front of Quatre and before he could stop himself, brushed some of the blond hair from Quatre's forehead, breathing lightly so as not to wake him.

Why was he doing this to himself!

Shaking his head, Trowa picked the smaller young man up, Quatre's head coming to rest on his shoulder. He carried him to the last room down the hall, grateful to Duo for having left the bedroom door open. It was easy upon walking in to tell who had been using which bed. The one closest to the window was a mess, the blanket half on the floor, while the one closest the door was neatly made. Trowa laid Quatre on that bed, unable to pull the blanket back, what with both hands supporting a certain blond. Instead, Trowa took the blanket from Duo's bed and put it over Quatre. He sat down on the edge afterward and looked down at the cause of the pain in his chest.

"If only you were someone else," Trowa said quietly with a sad shake of his head. "Why you, when it can't be? I could never put you through that, especially when you're always under such scrutiny, being from such a powerful family.

"Who am I kidding? Why would you ever want a silent ex-soldier when you could have anyone else?"

With a last longing gaze and another sad shake of his head, Trowa stood and left the room, going to his own. He went over to one of the beds and lay down, staring up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure for how long he was in there, so lost in his thoughts he was. The sound of the front door opening and Duo's jubilant voice were what brought him back to reality. Trowa went out into the living room as the smell of Chinese food wafted about filling the room.

"Where's Quatre?" Duo asked, pulling containers out of plastic bags.

"He fell asleep. He's in his room," Trowa said.

Duo finished emptying the bag and then went to the room he and Quatre were sharing. Sure enough, the blond was fast asleep. He went over to the side of the bed and went down on his knees on the floor. He reached over and shook Quatre's shoulder gently.

"Hm?" Quatre opened his eyes slowly before sitting up. "How'd I get in here?"

"Trowa said you fell asleep. Wasn't in here?" Quatre shook his head, and Duo shrugged, saying, "He must've carried you in here."

Quatre blushed slightly before getting up and following Duo back to where the food was. Duo looked around and saw Heero, once again away from the rest of them. As he went to pull him over with the rest of the group, Quatre sat at the table where Trowa was putting plates down.

"Thanks," Quatre said to him quietly. He knew he didn't have to say for what. Trowa knew, as his nod at Quatre confirmed.

Whether either one was going to say anything was interrupted by Duo. He had Heero's laptop under one arm and a glaring Heero beside him by the arm. He avoided looking at Heero and his "death glare" as eh shoved the perfect soldier into a seat.

"Everyone has to be a part of our last meal, with the exception of Wufei, who's already gone," Duo announced.

"Smart man," Heero muttered.

"Now let's hurry before Hee-chan decides to bail," said Duo, putting the laptop under his chair.

They passed around the various white boxes, bags and other containers of food, Heero once again the only one using chopsticks. They joked about, only Heero barely contributing, although even he smirked at the humorous things spouting from Duo's mouth almost non-stop. At one point, Duo attempted to use chopsticks to eat, and he was so ridiculously bad at it that he opted for stabbing the piece of chicken he'd been trying to pick up and ate it like that instead. Even Heero had to laugh at Duo's childish frustration.

Finally, it came time for Trowa to leave for the bus stop. When Quatre offered to go with him to the bus stop, Trowa declined, saying that they all still had to get ready to leave themselves. Quatre just nodded, agreeing before turning to go to his room. Had he looked back at Trowa, he would have seen a similar look of sadness on Trowa's own face before he turned and left.

* * *

_This could be the last time  
__You will stand by my side  
__I can feel my soul it's bleeding  
__Will you fly with me tonight?_

_This could be the last time  
__You will stand by my side  
__I can feel my soul it's bleeding  
__Will you fly with me this evening?_

_3 Doors Down "By My Side"_


	3. Untimely Goodbye

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/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s\

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the familiar characters, nor the lyrics to the wonderful song in this, or other, chapters. Homophobes, beware, this is slash. Though nothing happens in this chapter. Still, forewarnings are good

A/N: Sorry this took so long. It wasn't completely my doing. But I'm alive, and I've got the next few chapters written. If a good number of people review this one, I'll put the next one up right away. If not, I'm going to send the next one to my beta, see if she can redeem herself, lol (Just messin', LW)  
Sao

P.S. Please don't hate me after this chapter…

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Untimely Goodbye

Duo walked past the people waiting desperately in chairs or pacing about. A few exchanged glances with him, understanding in their eyes. And although the exact reasons for being there and the causes were different, one similarity kept them in this pristine building on this forlorn floor. Duo continued walking down the hall, no reason to stop and ask for directions. He knew where he was going. He'd called ahead of time. Three others, and then a walk down a few blocks had followed that call. The walking had helped him. Prepared him for this.

Turning into a brightly lit room, he felt tears prick his eyes. The black hat in his hands was being twisted tightly as Duo's heart did the same thing in his chest. Heero was lying there, drugged, with needles all stuck in him to monitor a number of things. Duo had a brief flash of an earlier time when Heero had been connected to a number of machines. He shook the memory away. This was not the same. It was worse. Then, Heero hadn't been moving because he couldn't, having been tied down. He couldn't move now, either, but because of the extent of his injuries.

Duo sat down at a chair near Heero's bed facing the door, turned slightly so he could look out the window for the moment. It was still morning, a good two or three hours before noon, yet the sun shone in brightly as if Duo's whole world wasn't about to end. He turned back to Heero's prone body on the clean white bed. As the steady beeping of the heart monitor continued, Duo thought back to what had happened.

Sunday morning, the two of them walked out of the airport, bags (and laptop) in hand. They'd gotten a cab and Duo gave the driver directions to his newly acquired apartment. Duo had managed to buy a sofa and a bed among a few other necessities before Wufei had called him, and he hadn't had any real time to settle in. Bottom line, the apartment was actually clear of any mess or clutter.

"Are you sure this is the right apartment?" Heero had asked.

Duo had gaped at him for a moment. Had he heard that right? Had Heero Yuy, Perfect Soldier, just cracked a joke? For a second, Duo had the urge to go to the window to see if the sky was falling, but he chose to reply instead.

"Yes, sirree, this beaut is mine," Duo answered. "Give me an hour or two and it'll look just lived in."

It wasn't a large apartment, though not small, either. Upon walking in, there was an open kitchen on the left, the living room straight ahead. Along the wall on the right were three doors. Two of which were bedrooms, the other, located closest to the front door almost directly across the kitchen, and was a bathroom. The last room as the one with a bed, and Duo's belongings. The other wasn't yet furnished.

"You can take the bed until we get another in the other room," Duo offered. Duo opened his mouth to say something, but Duo interrupted, "I insist, no arguing."

Heero hadn't, surprisingly. Because there was absolutely no food in his refrigerator, Duo ordered a pepperoni pizza. Although the light on the machine wasn't blinking, he checked the messages anyway. Half an hour later, Heero emerged from the room with an envelope.

"Watcha got there?" Duo asked.

"I finished that firewall program I had been working on," Heero said. "I wanted to send it out."

"I'll take it!" Duo volunteered. "Pizza guy should be arriving any minute."

"All right," Heero said, handing the envelope over to Duo. "I'll be in the shower."

Duo nodded, pushing the images those words inspired from his mind. As he left the apartment and headed for the stairs, he looked down at the envelope. It had only a sending address, both in English and Japanese. He reached the mailboxes and put the envelope through the slit of the 'OUT' box. He turned to go but was stopped by knocking on the door. He opened it for the delivery boy, paid for the pizza, and headed back upstairs. When he reached the apartment, going into the kitchen to put the pizza on the counter, he saw a note on the counter. It was written in sharp, precise print, Heero's handwriting. The water was running, so he was obviously still in the shower. Picking up the note he read it silently.

Your apartment's bugged. Don't say anything you don't want known. I didn't remove them so whoever put them wouldn't get suspicious. We'll look for some place else tomorrow.

**Damn**, Duo thought. **That sucks.**

When Heero came out, he made no reference toward the note or the next day's plans. Instead, he asked what type of pizza it was before grabbing some. They talked a bit about some random things. They touched on music, and Duo found that Heero was as avid a music lover as he was.

* * *

_I'm so tired of being here_  
_Suppressed by all my childish fears  
__And if you have to leave  
__I wish that you would just leave  
__Because your presence still lingers here  
__And it won't leave me alone

* * *

_

At that moment, someone entered the room. Duo became apprehensive, one hand slowly reaching for the gun at his back. Whoever it was had a hat on and their face down. They took two steps into the room and looked up to look at the only occupied bed in the room with blue eyes. As they lit upon the figure on the bed, those eyes filled with sadness.

"Hey Quatre," Duo said flatly, both hands back to his lap.

"Hey. How is he?" Quatre asked.

Duo hesitated as two more figures appeared at the door, but it was only Wufei and Trowa. "Doctor's said they were surprised he was still breathing afterward. He seems to be doing okay, but there's still no guarantee he'll be okay."

"How 'bout you, Maxwell?" Wufei asked.

Duo didn't answer. He simply looked over at the one who had saved his life.

"What exactly happened?" Trowa asked.

Duo sighed, repeating what he'd gone over in his head. "I woke up early into the morning. Couldn't have been any earlier than three. Stupid car alarm was going off. I headed downstairs, determined to break the stupid thing, but I stopped when I reached the mailboxes in the lobby. This dark-haired guy was trying to break into the 'OUT' box. He saw me and ran. Had I been thinking straight I would have gone after him, but at the moment, it didn't occur to me to be worried about him. I went outside, disarmed the alarm that had gone off, and went back to bed.

"Later in the day, I didn't even remember the guy. He apparently remembered me, though. Later, in the afternoon, we were in a cab, on our way back into the city. We'd been looking at places in a nearby town, and were in a cab. We were on a hill, a very steep one, and the land on our right sloped downward.

"We were going along, not really talking 'bout anything, when the cab was hit from behind. By a truck. I looked back and got a brief look at the person behind the wheel. It was the mailbox guy. He rammed us again, our driver cursing fervently, trying to maintain control of the car."

Duo couldn't help the tears that came to his eyes. "He didn't even say anything. Didn't ask me what I wanted to do. Heero asked the driver to pull as far left as possible before he opened my door and pushed me out. There was enough space between the car and the guardrail for me to hit the ground and roll under. I had to grab onto the guardrail when I stood so I wouldn't slip down the hill.

"Heero never got the chance to follow, nor did the driver, whose one room over. His name's Ted. The guy in the truck went into the left lane, which was empty, and ran them off the road. Either he didn't know I'd gotten out, or he thought Heero was the one who had. In any case, he kept going. The cab went over the guardrail, obviously, and they crashed over the side. I guess Heero somehow managed to get the driver out, too, since he was quite a ways away from where the car stopped rolling over. He got a nasty lump and a broken arm. That's about it."

"I'm surprised the car didn't explode," Wufei said.

"It did," Duo corrected. "I managed to pull him out before it did. Took an hour for me to stop the only car to pass. Luckily they had a cell phone. Ambulance arrived later. They took Ted and Heero here, me to a small clinic that was closer. I went home afterward, found and got rid of every bug I found, the called you guys and the hospital. Resilient little phone Heero got us," he added with a laugh.

Quatre put a hand on Duo's shoulder, a look of sadness and sympathy on his face. Duo just shook his head and put his face in his hands. The shaking of his shoulder under Quatre's hand making it obvious he was crying.

* * *

_These wounds won't seem to heal_  
_This pain is just too real  
__There's just too much that time  
__Cannot erase

* * *

_

Hilde leaned her heard against the door of the truck. Her sore muscles needed a break. She wasn't the only one. There were at least a little over a dozen other men, few women, here with her. All here were good engineers and/or mechanics. They had all repaired mobile suits during the war. Some had helped build them. Thus the reason they were here, working alongside Gundam experts. Already the plans for one suit were done, and construction was beginning.

"He did what!"

Hilde turned her head in the direction of the voices. They were to her left, around the back of the large truck. She thought of going around it, but it was risky. Then again, so was trying to listen in. Nevertheless, she went down to her hands and knees and crawled under the truck. She lay flat and listened intently.

"Yes, he spoke with one of the prisoners, convinced them to trust him, and found out where this guy lived," one man was saying. "Don't know all the details, but he caused the young man's companion to be hospitalized."

"And?" the other, obviously the superior, asked.

"That boy…" the other man started. "He shouldn't have survived. Granted, he could still die, but still. Sir, he was in a car that was rammed off a hillside road. The car flipped a numerous amount of time. The car eventually exploded. The driver had been thrown out, as well as the other boy, though he was out before the car went over."

"What are you implying?" the man asked.

"Sir, Pilot 01 self-destructed his first Gundam when he was still on it, though the cockpit was open," the man related. "He was fighting again a few months later."

The superior started pacing. "Shit. Are you saying that he might have killed one of the pilots?"

The other man must have nodded, for the superior swore again. "The one he was going after originally seems a very unlikely possibility to be one of the pilots, though."

"Find Ralf, and kill him. I wont' have such a brash moron ruining our plans," the superior said. "Keep surveillance on the one kid, and we'll have to get the one in the hospital. And dismiss everyone back to his or her cells. I want a talk with that one prisoner."

He walked off and Hilde waited for the second to follow before coming out from under the truck. She wondered to herself, was Heero really hurt? She hoped not, although she'd rather it be he than Duo. No matter what they said, she knew Heero would eventually be okay. It was like he was indestructible.

Half an hour later, she was sitting on a chair in her solitary cell. The lights were on, so she could see it in its entirety. Not that there was much to look at. There was the cot in the corner going the length of the right wall with a dresser next to it. The dresser was filled with under garments and black skirts and pants, identical to the bland outfit Hilde was attired in. Then, there was the chair at the foot of the cot in which Hilde was currently seated. Other than that, there was nothing in the room, with the exception of what Hilde knew to be a one-sided window, her side being a mirror. Everything in the room, from the floors and walls to the chair and dresser were one color. White.

The door by the "mirror" opened. A man walked in, looking every bit the part of a man used to ordering people around. The door slid shut behind him and he came over toward Hilde and sat on the cot next to her.

"We have news on your friend that Ralf went after," he said in a neutral tone.

Hilde widened her eyes as if surprised and curious. With an added note of desperation in her voice, she asked, "How's Maxwell? Did something happen? Is he okay?"

"Maxwell? Is that his name?" the guy asked. He gave her a look that said he knew it wasn't.

"Well, not really," Hilde admitted. "It's Max." He gave her a look that clearly said 'continue'. "Max Haul."

"Is that really it?"

Hilde tried to look unsure as she said, "As far as I know."

He nodded at her. "Well, he's fine. A friend of his, though, is in the hospital. Would you know him?"

"Probably not," she said. "Max has a lot of war buddies I have never met." At least that last part was true.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know," he said. "If I hear anything else, I'll let you know, Hilde."

She would have asked how he knew her name, but it would be a stupid question. Of course he would've asked someone her name.

"What's your name?" Hilde asked.

He had reached the door by then. It was open and he was half way out. For a while, he didn't answer. He gave her an appraising look and she tried not to blush. He smiled.

"It's Jorgé." And he left.

* * *

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
__When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
__And I've held your hands through all of these years  
__But you still have all of me

* * *

_

Duo looked outside the window. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that the stars had faded. Not one was to be seen in the sky that night. He brought his gaze around to Heero. Not once that day had he moved. Heero hadn't even twitched, and Duo continued to sit at his bedside. The others had come and gone a number of times, mentioning something about his apartment.

"Heero, why won't you open your eyes? Say something, even if it's to call me an idiot," Duo pleaded. Of course, he received no answer, no indication his plea had been heard. "You're such an oaf. Getting yourself hurt like that. Really, being the hero…"

Duo trailed off, realizing he still wasn't saying anything. Not Heero. He meant himself, Duo Maxwell, wasn't saying any of the things that he should have. Everything he'd ever found an excuse to not say aloud. The things he'd stumbled over only to make a sarcastic remark. He wasn't saying any of the things that should have been said about a million times before now.

"Duo? You're still here?"

Duo looked to the door, his train of thought lost for the moment. Trowa stood at the door, looking at Duo sadly. Duo only nodded at him before looking back at Heero's unchanging face.

"Duo, why don't you get some rest?" Trowa came over on the opposite side of Heero's bed. "Wufei and Quatre got you a new apartment near your old one, for now, as you wouldn't be in danger of getting attacked at night. Why don't you go check it out? Your phone's not connected yet, but if anything, I'll call your cell, okay?"

Duo wanted to argue. He was fine with staying here all night if need be. However, looking over at the pilot once correctly deemed the Silencer, he knew there was no point. If he had to, Trowa would drag him kicking and screaming by his chestnut braid out of this hospital room. With a resigned sigh, he nodded, and Trowa called Quatre to come get him. Half an hour later, Duo was being shown his new place.

A key was put in his hands before he was left alone. They had moved his furniture and things into this new apartment, including Heero's things that had been in Duo's room. Avoiding them, Duo opted for a shower. A combination of being up and worried all day, plus the warm, calming water from the shower made him realize how tired he was. After getting out, he shuffled to the only bedroom there and threw himself upon it. He was soon asleep, and even his dreams were back with Heero. He didn't even realize he'd left his phone on in the bathroom with a nearly dead battery.

* * *

_You use to captivate me_  
_By your resonating light  
__Now I'm bound by the life you left behind

* * *

_

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive. It'll give me the upper hand."

"But what about-"

"This has to be done now, or else I lose the opportunity. Besides, the less who know, the better the chances of the enemy _not_ finding out."

"…"

"So?"

"All right, I'll help."

* * *

_Your face it haunts_  
_My once pleasant dreams  
__Your voice it chased away  
__All of the sanity in me

* * *

_

Duo groggily looked about his room. Really, it had no personality. He registered the fact that it wasn't his apartment. Vaguely, he remembered someone saying something about new place. Heero, perhaps? Then it hit him. The past 48 hours or so came careening back to smack him in the face. He got up, showered again, dressed and was out the door within an hour. Screw breakfast. He was too damn worried to eat.

When he finally arrived at the hospital, he paused upon entering, praying silently. He wasn't much into the whole religion thing, but in case there was someone up there, it didn't hurt to ask for some divine intervention. He walked in and went to the floor they had put Heero on. Duo made it as far as the reception desk before seeing Quatre, Trowa and Wufei in the waiting room. All Duo could see, though, was Quatre's tears.

Everything else seemed to fade back into some endless abyss of despair and loneliness. As far as one Duo Maxwell was concerned, he wasn't standing upon any floor, wasn't in some building in one of the many cities he'd been to. There were no people a few paces in either direction, or any for that matter, around Duo. Even the other pilots didn't exist. Only those tears. Only those drops of water and salt that rolled gently down Quatre's pale cheeks before being wiped away every now and then, only to be replaced by more. It seemed as if with every drop, a piece of Duo's heart chipped away with the news they'd yet to break to him, but that those tears confirmed. The one singular thought that seemed to repeat itself in his head was "**No**."

As if he'd projected that thought out, Wufei looked over and spotted him. The oriental boy's dark eyes were filled with grief and sympathy, and even he looked on the verge of tears. Any last shred of hope that perhaps Quatre was overreacting to something one of the nurses or doctors had said were lost the instant those eyes met Duo's violet eyes. Wufei opened his mouth to say something, but almost immediately, he shut it. What was there to say to the braided young man staring at their grief stricken little group that he hadn't already guessed himself? He turned toward Trowa and muttered Duo's name, bringing his attention back to the former Deathscye pilot. The silent young man looked up, a mixture of emotions crossing his handsome features before he began to walk toward Duo.

Duo watched, silently, in complete denial. In reality, it wasn't Trowa he was watching, not really. He watched the images that scattered across his mind's eyes and mocked him. showed him again and again the many times he could have said something to Heero, anything, that might have shown how deeply he cared for him. That all along he'd cared for Heero more than he would have ever imagined. Instead, he had stamped the urge down with an iron will, saying that he needed to wait. When they were fighting a war was no time to bring such matters up, and later, saying that he had all the time in the world. The war was over, what could take that time away from them?

Before Trowa ever reached him, Duo broke down. Right there, in front of all to see, he fell to his knees. How many times had he said that boys don't cry? There were always exceptions, loop holes to the rules, and this was one of them. When the one you loved so much died, and you, being the complete moron that you are, never said a word to them about how you truly felt for them. How long would he have to endure this pain? For how long would this regret eat away at him? As each question resonated in his mind a few million times over, he cried harder into his shaking hands, the people around looking on in sympathy, hoping they themselves would not have to endure such anguish. Trowa finally reached his friend and gently helped him to his feet, Duo leaning against him heavily as his agony consumed him. No one spoke, even when Quatre and Wufei went over to stand by their two comrades. Duo didn't notice. He only knew one thing.

Heero was dead.

* * *

_These wounds won't seem to heal_  
_This pain is just too real  
__There's just too much that time cannot erase_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
__When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
__And I've held your hand for all of these years  
__But you still have all of me_

_I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
__And though you're still with me  
__I've been alone along all along_

_When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
__When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
__And I've held your hand through all of these years  
__But you still have all of me_

Evanescence "My Immortal"

A/N: Ben Moody's leaving the band, boo-hoo :'( ! Good luck to him, though, in whatever he does.  
Sao


	4. Blame and Regrets

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/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s\

A/N & Disc: Nice to know you people don't hate me enough to stop reading after that last chapter. Or maybe you just don't want to leave Duo in his time of need. Either way, you're back. Good enough for me. I swear, everything has a purpose, you'll just find out later. Be patient. Now, let's go over this one-more-time. I _do not_ own Gundam or this song. Clear?

And thanks to my nice beta Link Worshiper who makes sure that I didn't do something stupid in the chapter, furthering your enjoyment. People, be nice, go read her stuff. They're ten times better, I swear.

More up to date A/N: Yeah, I know, there's no excuse for how long this took me. Well, there is, but I still feel horrible that I couldn't get to this sooner, especially since it was already written. HOWEVER, know this, the chapter after this one is already written as well. I think I have up to six finished, to be honest, and seven in the works. And now that I have them (FINALLY) on my current computer, you will get them much sooner. As in, next chapter should be up by this time next week, the latest, unless I see that people are actually coming back to this, in which case, the next free chance I get in the next few days. Again, sorry it took so long. Enjoy.  
_Sao_

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r\

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Blame and Regret

**It's like a reoccurring nightmare. I see that guy, the one responsible for all this. If I'd gone after him that morning and questioned him, would things have been different? Would I be so alone right now? Why couldn't it have been me?**

**Our mission right now is to find these people looking for us. The hunted become the hunters. This proved they'll do anything at this point. He's more valuable to these types of missions than I am. I wouldn't have been a big loss. Sure, the others would mourn me, he might even want revenge (okay, only in my dreams), but I wouldn't be needed…like he is.**

**Damn me and my stupid little bouts of shyness! I was always talking, always chatting away at him. So why couldn't I say what mattered? Why couldn't I tell him what really needed to be said? I've heard the saying that it's better to regret saying something, then never saying it at all. Until this moment, I never realized how right that was. This pain in my chest is unbearable. It eats away at me, from the inside out, and consumes me. I can't even get all my thoughts straight!**

**

* * *

**

_Give me a reason to believe  
That you're gone  
I see your shadow so I know_  
_They're all wrong  
__Moonlight on the soft brown earth  
__It leads me to where you lay  
__They took you away from me  
__But now I'm taking you home**

* * *

**_

**It took me a while to accept it. I'm not sure I do, even now, accept it. He just can't be…I don't want him to be…I want him here, with me. I wanted to see him. Wanted to look into that beautiful face one last time. To muss his wild brown hair just once more. I couldn't. They wouldn't even give me that. Apparently-and I never would have thought this of him, though now that I think about it, it makes sense-he put himself as an organ donor, then he wanted to be cremated. Dammit, damn it all to hell! Why'd they have to be so fucking efficient in that damn hospital? Couldn't they have at least been lax enough to give me time to see him? To tell him, even if he'd still never really know, everything that's now in my heart?**

**I want to join him. I want to go wherever it is he is, to be with him forever. But I have to make them pay first. I'm not even sure if that guy is with those who are looking for us. For all I know, he may have nothing to do with them at all. He could have been doing something illegal and thought that not only had I seen him, but been awake enough to have a fucking clue what he was doing (which I wasn't).**

……

**It's my fault. If I hadn't let that stupid car alarm annoy me, then I would have never come across that guy and everything would be fine. Nothing would be different. We'd have gone looking for that new apartment, and working hard to find out who it is we have to stay away from. God, it's my own fucking fault I'm going through so much damn pain. I guess I deserve it. But he didn't, oh no, he didn't. No one knows better than I do how much he's gone through, and that's probably not even half of it. He's never truly opened up to me, which means he's been through some major stuff.**

**

* * *

**

_I will spend forever here with you  
My own  
The softly spoken words you gave me  
Even in death our love goes on__  
**

* * *

**_

**It hurts. Everything fucking hurts. My head is pounding from all this thinking. My heart hurts no need to say why. And I haven't slept in days, so every limb hurts. I've walked around this empty, shit hole apartment about a million times. I'd probably like it better if it wasn't here that I'd been when he…It's like I blame the stupid apartment. Like it was this stupid place that had made me lay down after my shower, which is stupid. But it's making me feel a little better to have something to blame other than myself for not being there for him.**

**Someone, please, make all this pain go away. I've lived through hell before, and I thought nothing could be worse. Oh, how wrong I was. This hurts. So much more. The pain of it runs through every vein, resonates in every bone in my body. It multiplies and spreads, like an infectious disease. It wears me down, and I have to lie down, if only for a minute. But it was sleep that kept me from you. From your side, my love. Because now is when I realize it. Isn't that so clichéd? All along I loved you, and I didn't realize that's what it was all along. Maybe I am as dense and clueless as people often tend to take me for? Maybe I am the idiot you've always called me? Yet, I need it. Just a minute or two of it, sleep that is, and I'll be fine. I know I will be. Then I can think on what I'm going to do next. Without you…**

**How long has it been? A minute or so, an hour, a day? I doubt I'd have slept anymore than an hour or so, at most. The clock's in front of me, but I can't seem to make out the numbers. They make no sense to me. They're just there. On the clock face. With no meaning, whatsoever. At least, not to me. Vaguely, I remember bits and pieces of this dream of mine. And I can swear I heard your soft, nasal voice say how much you cared for me. That you wanted me to go on. But I can't. How can I when I'll never hear that monotone of yours, never hear that cynical note you sometimes get that you've picked up over time? Someone, please, just take this memory of you away so maybe then this pain will go.**

**

* * *

**

_Some say I'm crazy for my love  
Oh, my love  
But no bonds can hold me from your side  
Oh, my love  
They don't know you can't leave me  
They don't hear you singing to me  
__**

* * *

**_

**No, that won't happen. I could never forget you, never forget those eyes, that face, that voice. No matter how much it hurts, truthfully, I don't want to. Ever. Not in all the years that are to come, not if I lived a million years and never once did the pain lessen would I want to forget you. I think I'm finally losing it, and I have to admit, that I think I'm finally beyond the point of caring. First I was talking to myself, and then I've slowly slipped to talking to him…you…I think I need to start some medication or something.**

**Looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I barely recognize that guy looking back at me. Maybe it isn't me. Maybe it's just someone else and I've temporarily taken over. His eyes are sunken in and a bit red from crying, or lack of sleep, probably both. His long hair is in a loose, tangled mess tied back. He's pale and looks sick. His eyes are a dull cobalt blue, instead of the lively violet it often used to be. Hm, guess it is me after all. Too bad I can't muster any pride in that statement.**

**The dream, it seemed so real. I could feel your hands as they brushed my hair away from my face, stroking my cheek. I could see your face, and hear your voice as you whispered that you'd always be right there for me. Not to worry, I'd always be safe as long as you could help it. Just the memory of that dream fills me with this kind of warmth. But it's already ebbing away, leaving in its place a chilly cold, one that makes the Arctic seem like a Bahaman getaway. I should do myself the favor and just end this all. Then I can be with him, in a way. At least I wouldn't have to live without him.**

**There are knives in the kitchen. Sharp, gleaming knives that could probably cut through just about anything in one quick, fluid motion. Even as I grab the handle, I know I can't do it. I know exactly what he'd say. I was being a coward. I was running when I should be fighting, or at least standing my ground. It would be so easy to end it all. One swift slice and the blood would come streaming down my arms, I know it would, I've tried it before. With my luck, though, someone would come and end up saving this worthless piece of shit life of mine like they've done before. Or something would botch it up and I wouldn't die, just be extremely weak and ill, and messy. Just like when I tried to self-destruct in Shinigami. That didn't work out, through _no_ fault of my own.**

**No, I won't do it. I have to get those guys for him anyway. If this pain continues to be so unbearable, when it's all done, I'll find a way to push it away from me. I've personally never thought of drowning my life problems away with a bottle, or with drugs, but if they're still doing it, despite how bad it's supposed to be for you, there's got to be something to it. Something that brings them back to it each time. **

**Whoa, rewind and freeze that. Did I just say what I think I said? Hm, am I just trying to think of things that he would have hated me doing? Because drinking and doing drugs is probably near the top of that list. I have to pull myself together, no matter how much it hurts or how things will never be the same. I remember Quatre saying something about enrolling me in the school closest here. I'm glad it's not one with a dorm. I couldn't possibly deal with how many memories that would bring back. And having a roommate that isn't Heero would be weird, not to mention dangerous for that poor soul's state of mind. No telling how bad I'll get when this throbbing pain reaches a peak and I can't take it.**

**I think I'll sleep now. I'll sleep until the bags under my eyes are gone. I'll only get up to eat and bathe and just generally make sure I'm back on the right track. I can't stand out at this new place. I've dealt with pain and sorrow before. I can do it again. It may take longer until it's at a point where I can deal with it on a daily basis, but it'll get there. It has to. I think my sanity depends on it.

* * *

**

_I will spend forever here with you  
My own  
The softly spoken words you gave me  
Even in death our love goes on_

_And I can't love you anymore than I do_

_I will spend forever here with you  
My own  
The softly spoken words you gave me  
Even in death our love goes on_

_And I can't love you anymore than I do  
_

_People die but real love is forever__  
_

"Even In Death" Evanescence

A/N: I know this is half as long as the last chapter. This is meant to be only this long. Thus why such a short song was picked. I know, poor Duo. I know how you can ease his pain, review! Show him how much sympathy you have for him before he does something drastic .


	5. Parting Ways

\B\e\w\a\r\e\

/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s\

Disc: I don't own these wonderfully gorgeous guys, because every time I come close, one of them figures out a way out of my traps. I'll get them…eventually --

A/N: All right, I know I've been taking a bit of a long time coming out with these chapters. I've been super busy. I'm sorry; I'll try to come out with these faster.

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r\

/F/i/v/e/

Parting Ways

Duo yawned, rubbing his eyes as the sun shone brightly in his room. Inwardly, he cursed his blond roommate for opening his curtains. No matter how much he protested against it, Quatre continued coming into his room early every morning. According to the Arabian young man, Duo couldn't sleep all day. He needed to "seize the day!"

Groaning, the braided teen sat up. What was today?

"Duo, come on, hurry up!" Quatre called from some other part of the apartment.

**That's right,** Duo thought. **They're all leaving today.** The reality of it tore him in two. Part of him was glad that there wouldn't be any concerned eyes following his every move. The other part of him was afraid of…something. Being alone, perhaps. Or that something might happen to one of the other pilots. The other ex-soldiers were the closest thing he'd had to a family since he'd lived at the church. He was sick of losing his family.

Duo got up, stretched, and headed for the bathroom. A few days after Heero's death, when slowly, Duo had begun to function normally; he found his phone in the bathroom. He'd forgotten about it completely. Then he realized that that day, he'd left the phone in the exact same spot, without recharging the battery. The others had probably tried calling him, but of course, the phone wouldn't have rang. Duo very nearly threw it out the window, but changed his mind.

First off, the others needed a sure way to contact him (which would work better if he remembered to charge the battery). Secondly, Heero had given him the cell phone. It even had a cute little devil on it!

Instead, Duo returned to the bathroom, Quatre watching from the kitchen with a puzzled look on his face. Inside the small bathroom, Duo looked into his reflection. He looked better than the last time. No red eyes and they were no longer sunken in. He wasn't as pale or sick looking. His eyes, though, still lacked the light of liveliness that used to shine there. Maybe he'd never get that back.

Then suddenly, Duo smiled at his reflection. He'd lost a part of himself when a certain pair of Prussian blue eyes became permanently closed, but he'd move on. He had no choice in the matter. For the time being, he was alive, and he had better things to do than to hope for Death. He was Shinigami, and he knew that his time wasn't coming any time soon. Thanks to Heero. Least he could do was make sure he hadn't been saved for nothing.

* * *

_It's been a long, long time  
__Since I looked into the mirror  
__I guess that I was blind  
__Now my reflection's getting clearer  
__Now that you're gone  
__Things will never be the same again

* * *

_

Quatre finished breakfast; glad he'd found something he could make without burning them and without them being a danger to anyone's taste buds.

"Duo, pancakes!" He called, dumping the pan in the sink. He took two plates to a table that had been bought three days earlier, and then went back to the kitchen to grab two other plates. "People better hurry up. I didn't make all this for me."

As if summoned, there was a knock on the door. Quatre went over to open it, knowing it was Trowa and Wufei with the syrup.

"Good timing," Quatre said. "I just finished."

"It is edible, right?" Wufei asked, knowing the blond's lack of skill in the kitchen.

Quatre blushed, opening his mouth to reply, but before he had a chance, Duo came out of the bathroom, drawing all attention to him. Although he had the personality that naturally drew people's eyes, the three pilots were used to him and usually paid him no extra mind. However, Duo came out doing something that surprised them. He was whistling. Since Heero had passed nearly a month ago, Duo hadn't sang, whistled, barely spoken. Even getting him to eat had been a difficulty. As for venturing outside, not even once. The three pilots watched the braided young man as if afraid that if they made any sudden movements, Duo would retreat back into his shell like a tortoise. He headed straight to the table, took the syrup from Trowa, drowned one of the stacks of pancakes and cut off a generous piece to eat.

"Maxwell, do you have a death wish?" Wufei demanded, shocked.

Duo blinked at him while Quatre sat in a chair and crossed his arm unhappily, pouting cutely. Trowa smiled slightly at the blond's expression as he sat across from him. It would make quite an adorable picture.

"Geez, Wuffers, give him a break," Duo chided, taking another bite. "These are actually really good."

Wufei was so astonished by Duo's sudden return to normality that he forgot to complain about the pet name. He simply sat down at the remaining empty seat and eyed Duo, watching to see signs of flinching. Quatre glared daggers at him while Trowa picked his fork up and took a tentative bite of his own stack of pancakes.

"Mm, not bad," he said after a minute.

That convinced Wufei it was safe and he dug in while Quatre blushed delightedly. They ate in relative silence, but, as he had used to do, Duo soon breached it. He chatted a little on possible courses to take and of getting out of the apartment and finding a new one. Even though he was keeping a conversation going like he used to, Quatre could see that it was somewhat forced. When Wufei, who had been "volunteered" (translation: threatened) by Quatre to do dishes, grabbed the dirty dishes and went to go wash them, the American ex-soldier fell quiet. Duo went over and sat on the couch they'd brought from his old apartment and stared contemplatively out the window.

Unbeknownst to Quatre as he studied his braided friend, Trowa similarly studied him. They were parting ways again, and for the millionth time since he'd flown in from England and saw the blond again, he wondered if there was someone significant in the young man's life. The thought hurt like a physical blow. However, it was unfair to _not_ want Quatre to have someone. Especially since he'd never made any indication of being interested, or anything. Who was he to decide whether the Winner heir could date or not? A nobody. That was all he was. He didn't even have a name of his own!

"So, you guys are all leaving," said Duo, out of the blue. "When?"

It was Wufei who answered gently as he came out of the kitchen drying his hands. "In a few hours. It'll be safer if we don't linger."

"Are you sure you'll be all right here?" Quatre asked.

"I'll be fine, Quat!" Duo insisted with a grin, changing his position on the couch to look at his friends. "Besides, the alternative would be going with one of you guys, and Arabia's too hot; it's always dreary in England; and I don't speak Chinese."

"If anything is going on, don't hesitate to call," Trowa said, going to the kitchen to call a cab.

"Yeah, I know, Trowa," Duo said. "Don't do anything alone, and all that good stuff."

"I meant with you," Trowa clarified before turning to speak into the phone.

Duo looked at Trowa thoughtfully, then nodded in response, although Trowa couldn't see him. He was accepting the fact that no matter how much he insisted that he was all right, they would continue to worry about him, at least for the time being. Duo stood, saying something about getting his things together and withdrawing to his room, closing the door softly behind him. Despite his quick retreat, Quatre could almost swear that he had seen the self-proclaimed God of Death with tears in his eyes. Perhaps someone should stay with the braided boy.

As Quatre sat in thought, Trowa watched him, a million and one thoughts running through his head. So many things that he was thinking and he couldn't put any of them into words. Wufei watched it all; Duo's quick escape to hide his sadness from them; Quatre's worried and pensive glance; and Trowa's impassive face as he watched not Due, but a certain wealthy young man. He simply shook his head, unsure of whether he was happy to be getting away from all the drama, or disappointed that he wouldn't be around to watch any of it unfold.

* * *

_There's not a minute that goes by  
__Every hour of every day  
__You're such a part of me  
__But I just pulled away  
__Well, I'm not the same boy  
__You used to know  
__I wish I said the words I never showed

* * *

_

Trowa had left. The cab would take a little over half an hour to arrive since it was the end of summer vacation for many and the company had received a multitude of calls requesting cabs to go to and from airports and hotels or homes. At first, he'd sat at the table again with a cup of water, but Quatre was distracting. The smaller young man seemed to be seriously considering something, so he hadn't realized that the silent, previous circus clown was watching him.

He loved watching the way the expression on Quatre's face changed with every emotion. With every new thought, there was a slight change. A frown on his face one minute, an amused look another; a wrinkle in his brow as it furrowed in thought, a lifting of the corner of his mouth as he grinned. It was driving him mad, watching him. Especially since more than anything else, Quatre's mouth kept drawing his attention. And with Wufei there, clearly seeing Trowa watching Quatre, it was bothersome.

Therefore, Trowa went into the hallway of the apartment complex to think. It was easier to strengthen his resolve about having to leave the blond's company again. It became harder and harder to do each time he had to do it again, and he was unsure how much longer he could deal with it.

Time spent with both Quatre and Duo had softened Trowa. He wasn't as apathetic to everything around him, and he was beginning to actually follow his own emotions. He wasn't the only one. Duo, whether he had noticed or not, had done the same to Heero. All those missions where the two had worked together had changed Heero. Perhaps not so much that the difference was easily discernable, but nevertheless, the discrepancy was there. Heero had allowed himself to be included when they had done things together. Hadn't closed himself off completely when conversations turned somewhat personal. He hadn't answered personal questions as apprehensively as he had once done so.

In any case, whether it was complicated or not, the only alternative to leaving without saying anything to Quatre was actually telling the blond what Trowa felt for him. And that was something he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do. It wasn't so much (at least it wasn't entirely) because he was afraid to do so. It was more (at least mostly) that he was afraid of alienating the old Sandrock pilot.

When you were often as aloof as Trowa Barton, you tended to make only a few really close friends. Due to that, you were also reluctant to lose that handful of close friends. They were so rare. Decent people nowadays, despite what one Relena Darlian wanted to believe, didn't come around often.

The door beside Trowa opened and Wufei stuck his head out.

"The cab is downstairs," he informed the silent hall dweller. "And he very explicitly stated that if we loiter too long, he'll leave."

Trowa nodded and went inside to get his bag. He had come from England with only a bag, having believed that he wouldn't be staying too long. After all, Heero had always pulled through before, so he had thought that in a matter of days, perhaps even a little over a week, the Perfect Soldier would be back on his feet and ready to take on the one who had made an attempt on his and Duo's life. That just proved that one could never rely on previous facts of life to remain the same forever. Eventually, all things changed. It was the way of the world.

"Have a good trip," Duo said, emerging from his room. He caught Quatre's concerned look and laughed, "Stop worrying, Q babe. I'm not as inept as people think; I can get along just fine on my own. I've done it before."

Quatre smiled. "I know you can. It's just…never mind. I know once you decide something you are immovable. Just take care of yourself." Quatre picked his bag up and went ahead to make sure the cab driver didn't leave them behind with one last wave of good-bye to Duo.

"Remember, I'll call you on Tuesday," Wufei reminded, as he hefted his bag and headed out the door. "Be careful, Maxwell."

"You take care, too, Wufei!" Duo called with an exaggerated wave.

Duo walked to the door with Trowa. Neither really said anything. Trowa had already told Duo earlier that should the need arise he could call anytime. Neither of them had ever really said much to each other, not because of an aversion to one another, but just because it was the way their friendship was. However, Duo did say one thing after Trowa was outside again in the hallway, bag in hand, getting ready to head downstairs.

"Don't wait too long, Tro, or you'll have wasted your chance."

With that said, Duo closed the door of the apartment he planned to leave, a speechless Trowa on the opposite side of the door. He knew what Duo was talking about. How could one not know? There was definitely no doubt when you considered everything from the last month. Perhaps Trowa should follow those instructions…

* * *

_I know you had to go away  
__I died just a little  
__And I feel it now you're the one I need  
__I believe that I  
__Would cry just a little  
__Just to have you back now  
__Here with me  
__Here with me

* * *

_

Duo looked around the now quiet apartment. For some reason, it felt wrong. Being in this living space, completely alone, felt utterly wrong to Duo, and he knew that he would have to leave. If he didn't, he would drive himself mad with such somber surroundings. Although he knew that it would be strange at first, he started to reconsider his initial thoughts about living in a dorm room once again, even if it meant sharing a room with someone other than his former stoic friend.

"Ooh, but Trowa had me enrolled somewhere already," Duo muttered to himself aloud, simply for the comfort of something besides the silence. "Ah well, I can fix that. I'll just use Heero's laptop. By the time I break his codes, I should have decided on a place to go. A week or so is quite a lot of time to think," he continued as he went back to his room.

He paused before stepping into the room, knowing that the laptop wasn't in there. He would have remembered seeing it sometime in the past month. Had the device even made it out of the crash?

Duo thought back, and he distinctly remembered Heero having it on him when the ambulance came, and he had a slight memory of a nurse telling him that he could pick it up at the nurse's station. Had one of the other ex-pilots picked it up? If they had, he knew it would be somewhere in the apartment. The only reason he could come up with that they hadn't told him about it right away was that they feared he would lapse into another state of intense grief. Even if that were the reason, he knew that _they_ knew better than to try to keep the device hidden from him forever. It had been Heero's, an intensely personal item, and a good reminder of the former pilot's talents.

Within half an hour, the braided young man had scoured the entire apartment and there hadn't been a trace of the laptop. Would one of the other's actually have kept it with them? He seriously doubted that. Then Duo wondered if they had even known that the laptop had miraculously escaped the crash almost completely unscathed but for a few slight scratches on its otherwise immaculate surface. He didn't recall having told them that minute detail. It was possible that the device was still at the hospital, and that the nurses there had been entirely too busy to contact him.

Grabbing a light jacket just so he would have somewhere to put his hands, Duo strolled out of the apartment, locking it behind himself. Before turning from the door, he stuffed his right hand into the jacket pocket to make sure the cell phone was on him. Never again would the device go un-charged or be out of reach. With everything in place, he headed downstairs and out of the apartment building, his mind idly cataloging the things that he needed to do.

Primarily, he had to figure out where he was going to be going. He couldn't wander around aimlessly, though the thought was somewhat appealing. However, and this was second on his list, he needed to be stationed in one place so he could begin trying to find Heero's murderer and the threat against the current reigning peace. There was also the job of contacting Doctor J. The thought of letting the elderly scientist know of what had happened to his…pupil, had crossed Duo's mind, though with the implications that Duo had of how the doctor had treated Heero while he was growing up made him wonder if he should bother. There was the good chance that Doctor J would take the news indifferently.

Since he already knew the way to the hospital, Duo had been somewhat lost in thought. Very little of his attention was focused on his surroundings. Only the bare minimum was used to keep him from walking into oncoming traffic, or bumping into kindly old women or little children. As he passed an electronic store, however, a voice drew him shortly from his thoughts.

For the third time in a row, since Duo hadn't turned on a television since then, Relena's face looked out at him and millions of others over the globe as she spoke. This time, however, she stood in front of a beautiful building with a sign on the front lawn announcing the name of the building as being 'Marquise Academy'.

**So, the place is finished,** Duo thought to himself, stepping closer to the store window to avoid standing in the way of the passersby.

"I announce this school, finished!" Relena announced cutting a red ribbon that was stretched between the front gates of the school. After the clapping died down, she continued, "Students will be admitted by recommendations from all over the world. They will stay in one of the on-campus dorms and will attend classes with professional scholars from various countries, and even the colonies. The bright and talented will find that they fit in wonderfully here."

"Miss Darlian, Miss Darlian!" many of the reports called. One managed to get the former Queen's attention, and she nodded for their question. "I understand that you wish to finish off your own education, although you seem quite intelligent as it is. Will you be attending the school yourself?"

Relena smiled kindly and thanked the reporter for the compliment. "As to your question, yes, I will be spending a year at the academy myself."

Duo ignored the rest, continuing on his way to the hospital. For the first time ever, he was thankful to the pink-obsessed former Queen. He had the beginning of a plan forming in his head, and if all went well, he would have a great start at finding those hunting him.

* * *

_You know that silence is loud  
__When all you hear is your heart  
__And I wanted so badly  
__Just to be a part  
__Of something strong and true  
__But I was scared and left it all behind

* * *

_

The ride to the airport was silent, the three pilots not much in a talking mood. Every now and then, Quatre and Wufei would speak, Trowa, however, stayed silent, focused on his own thoughts. He barely realized it when they arrived at the airport until Quatre nudged him softly.

"What is it?" Trowa asked.

"We're at the airport," Quatre said in his quiet voice. With that announcement made, he turned to go out of the car.

Remembering Duo's words, Trowa said, "Quatre, wait."

The desert prince had already stepped out of the car, but upon hearing Trowa, he turned around and stooped so that he was looking back in. Trowa looked into those blue eyes and he couldn't force himself to continue. Okay, so he had to admit that aside from not wanting to alienate him, Trowa wanted Quatre to have everything he deserved. He'd gone through a lot in the war, had lost his father and eldest sister, and Trowa wanted him to be happy more than anything. But how could he possibly make the other former pilot happy? He couldn't offer him anything great, or money (not that Quatre needed it) or any of the million other things that the boy deserved. He couldn't even offer him a name! Where Quatre was shy, yet friendly, he was reserved and introverted. The other was constantly warm towards people, the peacemaker, willing to make friends with the next person to enter the room. Trowa was still cold and indifferent towards those he didn't know, he wouldn't intervene in other people's fights and arguments unless he absolutely had to and he was more likely to acknowledge the presence of the next person to walk into the room, and then ignore them unless they proved of some importance. They were too different.

As if his silent prayers had been answered, Wufei came to stand beside Quatre and address him, effectively interrupting, and leaving Trowa free from having to explain himself or continue with his initial intentions.

"Winner, I was wondering, did you by any chance find out if Yuy's belongings were ever retrieved from the hospital? That is, assuming they weren't destroyed in the crash," Wufei asked, a flash of sadness at the mention of the "accident" (loosely used, of course) that had taken one of their own.

"No, I forgot to. Most likely the only thing Heero would've had on him was his laptop and the cell…phone…" Quatre's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, no, the phone. I don't think it would be a good thing for someone else to get their hands on it."

"No, I agree," Wufei said. "The laptop would have a security code that I doubt even one of us would be able to break, but I'm not so sure if anyone could find out the phone's number. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out the rest of our numbers."

"Then again," Trowa threw in as he finished unloading the last bag and closed the trunk. "Heero's plan was so simple, the numbers aren't in any way complicated, that they might overestimate us in the matter and never guess. They might expect a complicated code as each of our numbers."

"You have a point," Wufei conceded. "Nevertheless, I'll call Maxwell and ask him to stop by the hospital and see if either Yuy's phone or laptop is there." At the look Quatre was giving him, Wufei added, "It's not as if I relish the thought of asking him to go back there, either, Winner! However, you may have failed to notice, we're leaving, and none of us have the time to go back to the hospital, and then back here and still make our flights."

Trowa paid the cab driver, then, picking up his bag, added his own two cents before leaving to baggage claim, "I'm sure Duo will be fine. He seems to be getting better. Have a safe flight back, the both of you."

Quatre nodded, conceding that there was no alternative, and then watched as Trowa left their company with a questioning gaze. What had Trowa wanted to say a minute ago? He was curious to know, and although Wufei had brought something of great importance up, he was nevertheless annoyed with the Oriental's interruption.

He was about to turn away when he saw Trowa stop and look back out of the corner of his eye. Quatre turned and met the green eyes looking straight at him, and for a moment, he saw one of the few signs of emotion he'd ever seen cross the other stoic boy's face. It was beyond rare to see emotions displayed on that handsome face, and he found himself looking back in somewhat disbelief before all traces of the other young man's feelings were hidden and a hand was raised in a final farewell

Quatre stood there in silent reverie for a while, contemplating what he had just witnessed in Trowa's face, and most especially his eyes. Presuming that he wasn't making a misinterpretation of what he'd seen, he could have sworn that he'd seen resignation in the other's eyes. That final wave had given the impression that it had been meant as a final goodbye, and unbidden, tears pricked at Quatre's eyes. He couldn't have seen right, was assuming too much, reading too much into the expression. His exhaustion had him believing such a foolish thing. Of course, it hadn't been anything like an ultimate goodbye. He and Trowa were friends; even if he wished for something more, so they were bound to see each other again.

Unknown to Quatre was that in that very city he was leaving behind, making his way across a busy street to the pristine building that had been the last place where he had seen the love of his life, a young man could've told him that he wasn't wrong. For the look in Trowa's eyes was reflected in his own hue-changing violet orbs. Shinigami, God of Death, was ready to start letting his Perfect Soldier go and claim those responsible for his having to do something he had never wanted to do.

* * *

_I know you had to go away  
__I died just a little  
__And I feel that now you're the one I need  
__I believe that I  
__Would cry just a little  
__Just to have you back now  
__Here with me  
__Here with me_

_And I'm asking  
__And I'm wanting you to come back to me  
__Please?_

_I never will forget the look  
__Upon your face  
__As you turned away and left  
__Without a trace  
__But I understand that  
__You did what you had to do  
__And I thank you_

_I know you had to go away  
__I died just a little  
__And I feel that now you're the one I need  
__I believe that I  
__Would cry just a little  
__Just to have you back now  
__Here with me  
__Here with me_

A/N: I know that probably very few are fans of hers, but I like her well enough. Michelle Branch sings this song, "Here With Me" (bet you never would have guessed that!), and I personally think it's a very nice song. Don't worry, we'll be moving away from the pop genre soon, for those of you more concerned with the music selection than the story. Although frankly, I don't see how that's possible when you have a beautiful Duo bent on revenge. Really, do you people need to arrange your priorities!

I know in the beginning of the last chapter, I said something to the affect about this chapter not going up for at least a few days after chapter four. I figured you guys waited long enough as it is for the other chapter, so here it is.


	6. New Alliances

\B\e\w\a\r\e\

/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s

Disc: I don't own this, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure exactly of who the list of people who do own it entails. Just know it's a butt load of people, and that none of them are me.

A/N: You can all thank ffreeloader for this being up at all. I seriously had just plumb forgotten. Yes, for nearly two years. But, I didn't delete anything, and I've actually had this and another chapter done, with a third in the works. Since apparently it's being read, I'll get back to writing it. Sorry for being a lazy, forgetful bum. Sao

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r

/S/i/x/

New Alliances

The sun was nothing more than a blazing, blur of heat overhead, not a cloud for miles. The cars far in the distance had that hazy, mirage look to them caused by the heat rising from the pavement. Every mile or so, the cars would grind to a halt and would remain at a standstill for differing amounts of time, depending on the cause. There was construction being done on parts of that interstate highway, which was one reason. The other was that there were a few minor accidents here and there, only perhaps one percent of them being anything big.

Only one vehicle managed to barely stop as it weaved its way in between and around the other occupants of the road. The one vehicle, a raven black Harley Davidson, swerved to the left and barely avoided an inconsiderate businessman in a silver BMW changing lanes. The Harley's rider flipped the other driver the bird and sped up. At some points, he'd go fast enough that he was nothing more than a blur of black to those barely paying attention.

Duo's black jeans and leather jacket had layers of dust covering almost every inch of them, and his black boots were in no better condition. He'd been driving for over twenty-four hours across three, going on four, states. He'd made a few gas stops and taken advantage of the food at the gas station to eat something, but other than that, he'd been driving nearly non-stop.

Taking a motorcycle hadn't been his original plan of transportation. However, the three-day delay he'd had to endure to get out of the public school Trowa had enrolled him in, plus a…disagreement at the hospital hadn't helped his temper. The bike had been a spontaneous purchase, which had made Duo's temper worse. Not the bike itself, which Duo loved thoroughly. The problem had been the shop owner's wife. She had spent a good ten minutes telling him how dangerous driving across the states was and asking why a handsome young man would want such a dangerous machine while her husband went to get Duo's "dangerous machine." It was obvious the lady had no kids.

Now, as Duo went into the far right lane to go through the next exit, he turned his thoughts back to the hospital.

The head nurse had recognized him right away. It wasn't everyday, as she had pointed out, that you met a guy, gay or straight, with such long hair. Duo had opened his mouth to dispute the gay comment, but closed his mouth a second later. Denying it would be somewhat of a lie, not to mention it would also be denying his feelings for Heero. Duo wasn't inclined to do either. Instead, he told her what it was he was looking for. As soon as she finished looking through the inventory, he knew something was wrong. Nevertheless, he'd stood by silently while she checked it a second and third time. Before she could say anything about it, Wufei had called him and Duo had told him that he was already a step ahead of him, but that there was a slight problem. Promising to call him later, Duo had hung up and turned to the nurse who confirmed what he'd already had a suspicion of.

Heero's things were gone.

According to the inventory, the laptop and cell phone had been reported missing a day or so after Heero had passed. Duo's face must have reflected the loss his best reminder of the other boy's laptop was, along with a bit of the worry of where it was since the nurse took Duo's arm and promised she'd have a personal look through the inventory manually, and if she found either the cell phone or the laptop, she'd give him a call. Duo had given her the phone number for the apartment, but she hadn't called until two days later to let him know that no one knew what had become of either electronic and that she was so sorry, for both losing the laptop and cell and for Duo's loss.

Of course, Wufei hadn't been happy to hear about that. Neither was Duo. He wondered who actually had it. He wanted to believe it had been a greedy hospital employee, who had recognized the value of either item, but at the same time, he knew that wasn't true. It had occurred to him that he could just call the phone and find out, but the one time he had, no one had answered.

Still, Duo had other things to do than spend time hunting down a laptop with a virtually impenetrable hard drive and a phone whose number was known by a grand total of four people. Even as his thoughts ran amok, he came closer and closer to his destination.

Half an hour later, he pulled up in front of the new school. Impressive was a gross understatement in relations to the school grounds. Duo turned his attention to the guard at the gate. Looking down at himself, he doubted the guard would let him through. He wasn't exactly looking his best.

Pulling up to the curb across the street, Duo parked the bike, took off his black helmet, and looked at what he could see of the school through the barred gates and hedges that surrounded the grounds. As he took his braid out from under the jacket where he'd left it so it wouldn't fly lose behind him while he drove, he brought his gaze to the guard opening and closing the gate and thought one thing:

**What am I doing here?**

_

* * *

_

Living risky, never scared  
_Wander closer to the edge  
__Nothing valued, think no fear_  
_Always wondering why you're here

* * *

_

Relena finished watering the forsythia that the school's headmaster had sent her a week ago. Truthfully, she didn't care for the new addition to her garden any more than she cared for the garden itself that had been provided in her private residents while she attended the school. By the looks of things, she would be spending longer than a year at the school, but she didn't dare ask for fear that it might be true. Instead, she turned her attention to the plants relying on her to keep them alive in the garden. Maybe she would set fire to the stupid things. Show them not to rely on other people.

"Excuse me, Miss Darlian."

Relena turned around to face the young maid standing by the door, a few rows of plants away from her. "Yes?"

"There's a young man here to see you," she stated. "He's in the parlor. I don't know how he got in without notice, and I apologize, but he wouldn't leave. He insisted that he must see you. He absolutely refused to leave."

Her first thought was that it was Heero, and her heart skipped a beat. However, she doubted that was the case. She'd thought so many times before only for disappointment to drop on her like a ton of bricks when it turned out to be some young reporter hoping for an interview or a politician's son wanting to ask her on a date. She had managed to avoid being forced to go on any dates, but if they kept insisting, how long would she manage to avoid them?

"The parlor, you said?" Relena questioned, setting the watering can she'd been using down by the yellow-flowered shrub. The maid nodded, and Relena walked in between the rows of plants towards the door. "All right, I'll go see who it is." Despite her earlier doubts, she still held on to a glimmer of hope that it might be Heero. Not only because of her deep-seated love for him, but also because she felt that he might be the only one to help her out of her current situation.

When she reached the parlor door, Relena took a deep breath before reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. Her first reaction to the young man dressed completely in filthy, black clothes with the motorcycle helmet was disappointment that it wasn't Heero, as the long rope of chestnut hair contested to, but relief that it obviously wasn't the son of any politician she knew, since they would never be caught looking as dirty and grimy as this young man. Then, a second before he turned around, recognition shot through her which was only reinforced when she caught sight of the young man's face, and her uplifted mood suddenly went back to it's low position where it had been residing back in the garden.

"Pretty nice place they set you up in," the braided young man said to her. She remembered him to be one of the pilots, the one who called himself the God of Death. He had been the one to shoot Heero long ago, in another time and place, and the one who had most often been in her favored pilot's company. Duo was his name, if she recalled correctly. "Although I have to tell you, the guy at the front gate has some nerve. I mean, really, I tell him I have important business to attend to, and he looks at me, and doesn't even deign me worthy of a reply! Rude ass prick." He continued looking around him before realizing something and adding, "Sorry for the language."

For a moment, Relena stood there at the door, completely unaware how her mouth hung slightly open. He was the last person she would have wanted standing in her parlor and most definitely the last person she had expected to come. They had never been more than acquaintances, and as far as she was concerned, nothing even remotely close to amiable. With her current situation and her current mood, he was definitely not the person she cared to speak with now.

"Are you all right…?" Duo seemed to pause to think. "Hm, I'm not even sure what to call you. I mean, we've never been friends, far from it, truthfully, so I can't very well call you Relena, and you're no longer Queen, so I can't say 'Your Highness', either."

He pronounced it with the "e" sound and automatically, Relena said, "Either," pronouncing it with the "i" sound instead. They were both correct, she knew, but she had always preferred it with the "i" sound. It was a bad habit of hers to automatically correct people on that word, and she'd been working on stopping.

Duo shrugged. "Tomato, tomato," he said nonchalantly, pronouncing the word the two different ways people said them before continuing on his original topic. "I'm not so comfortable calling you Miss Darlian either, because it seems so proper. Hm, so what do I call you? You can just call me Maxwell, 'cause like I said, we're not friends, and I don't expect you to call me Duo."

The sudden silence as he waited for a response was like a wake-up call and Relena moved away from the door to sit behind the desk situated to her right. The carpet was oriental, with the colors most prominent being the browns and red, a few of them nearly the same shade as Duo's hair, she realized. The mahogany desk was also pretty close in color, and she found that it somewhat irritated her, although she could come up with no real reason why it should. Perhaps it was because the fact that this young man who stood by a bookshelf, watching her as she took a seat in the chair behind the desk, was closer to Heero than she was. That he, a street urchin, of what she gathered from what she knew of his past, and seasoned soldier at seventeen knew more about her own solider (as she considered Heero), than she did, and might hope ever to know. She realized that if he was here, most likely, assuming they were still as close as they had been in the war, Heero was somewhere nearby, or at the very least in the city. However, she didn't want to ask right away, since she had heard Duo comment once on how obsessive she seemed, which she disagreed. She would wait until she could somehow turn the conversation that way, which meant she would have to put up with the young man for a few minutes.

"Relena will be fine," she finally answered. "Why don't you take a seat?"

"No thanks," he said. He set the motorcycle helmet near his booted feet and looked around. There was something different about him, but she couldn't place a finger on what it was. Then again, it was not as if she knew him well, so she could just be imagining the change. "This really isn't a social call."

The maid from earlier knocked on the door Relena had left open and poked her head in, asking if she should bring some refreshments.

"Would you care for anything…Maxwell?" Relena asked, pausing for a moment to consider what to call him by and settling on his surname.

"Nah, I'm alright," he said, moving from one foot to the other. He had to admit, standing in the large room, he was somewhat nervous about telling Relena the news he'd come to tell her. He'd thought he would have no problem breaking the news to her, but he found that he was reluctant to bring the subject up. He was positive that the news would not hurt her half as much as it had hurt him, but he did not want to say it. Despite his resolution to let Heero go, he found that he still wanted to hold on, and every time he admitted the truth, it was like letting go little by little. They were baby steps he was scared to take.

"Could you bring me a cup of tea please," Relena asked. The maid nodded and left, closing the parlor door behind her to grant the two teens some privacy. The former Queen turned her attention back on Duo in time to catch a flit of emotion cross his countenance before he realized she was watching him and he hid it behind his usual cheery mask. "Forgive me for being so blunt, Mr. Maxwell—"

"No 'Mr.', just Maxwell," Duo corrected. "'Mr.' makes me sound kinda old."

"Very well, Maxwell," she amended. "As I was saying, forgive me for being so frank, but you and I have never been friends, as you yourself stated, and we've never been in anyway close. Aside from our mutual…friendship with Heero, you and I have little in common, and even less to discuss. I hope this does not come off as rude, but I cannot help but wonder what the cause of this visit might be."

Her higher-than-thou act while he was struggling to deal with his raging emotions with current occurrences caused him to get more annoyed than was perhaps necessary. He was high-strung at the moment, and dealing with so many things was too much for him. Duo didn't like Relena, had never liked her, although if he were honest and fair, he knew it was because of the other girl's obsession with Heero and attitude towards him, and under other circumstances, he wasn't about to admit at the moment, they could have possibly been friends.

"Look, Relena," he said, brow furrowing. "You're right, we've never been friends. Frankly, I can't stand you and your snobby attitude and believe me, if I hadn't felt I had to come here, I would be off somewhere else."

A frown appeared on Relena's face. "I will remind you where you are, and that I don't appreciate being spoken to in such a manner. I could very easily have you removed from the premises."

Duo let out a bark of laughter as the anonymous maid returned with Relena's tea. He waited until she had set it down, walked out and closed the door to begin a small search of the room. Relena watched, puzzled, as he made his way around the room, his hand running over spots, examining areas, before moving on. She opened her mouth to question him, but he put a finger to his lip before she could pose her inquiry. Finally, about five minutes later, he stopped and came over to the desk and set his hand, palm down, on it's surface, meeting cornflower blue eyes with a dead serious in his own.

"You forget who you're talking to, Relena," he said. "I told you the guard was less than polite. Do you think he let me in? I snuck in, avoided the entire pathetic security system you have got set up, and I can assure you I wasn't caught on camera. You can call whoever you want to 'remove me', but it would be pointless, seeing how by the time they got here, I could be over the gates and to my bike before they managed to call anyone. Or I could stay here and kick all their butts. I'm not sure which one I fancy at the moment."

He lifted his palms and Relena looked down at a small pile of four or five thumbnail-sized, wireless bugs that had apparently been put around the room. That meant that any conversations she had had in this room had been recorded, and who knew how many more of these there were around the house? She lifted surprised eyes to meet his, and found him grinning sadly at her.

"I may be a joker, but I know a lot more than you give me credit for," he said. For a brief moment, Relena thought he meant what she was going through. How she was being manipulated, how it seemed as if she no longer had a purpose. She was barely allowed an opinion, much less allowed to state it. But then he continued. "What I came to tell you I thought you'd care to know, actually considered it to be quite an important thing for you to know, and I should think I was being a damn good person for being so considerate."

Relena couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about. What could he possibly know that she'd care to know? The only thing she could think about was that it had something to do with Heero, but she didn't think he would come to tell her anything about the other ex-pilot. Still, it was the only thing she could come up with, and she wondered what it was exactly that he was going to tell her. He had turned away from her, his face turned toward the window that was set directly across from where she was behind the desk, but when he turned back, she saw tears glistening in his eyes.

"A few weeks ago, Heero and I were in a cab when this guy deliberately ran us off the road," Duo said, a tear sliding down his face. "Heero got me out of the car, saved my life, but…he never did. The car fell down the side of a hill and exploded, although I managed to pull Heero out and call an ambulance to take him to the hospital."

He paused, and Relena found that she could barely breathe. Heero had been hurt, why else would he be here if the former Wing pilot were completely well? Before she realized it, she was up and around the desk in a heartbeat, grasping Duo's shirt in her small fists, and shaking him slightly, forcing him to look down at her.

"Where is he?" she demanded. "Is he okay? What did the doctors say? Can I go see him?" She didn't care if she was not allowed to go. She had, at the very least to make sure he was all right. They couldn't deny her that much. She would willingly come back afterward, if only she could make sure that Heero was okay.

Duo looked down at her, and she saw the pain and grief in his eyes, eyes that were blurred by the tears that fell down his face freely as his hands covered hers. She was sure that he originally meant to remove them from his shirt, but instead, he hesitated with his hands over hers, and then gripped them somewhat tightly, as if he was drawing strength from her to finish. Which, in a sense, Duo was, knowing that she needed to be told, simply because he knew that in her own, obsessed way, she too had cared for his Heero (yes, his).

"Two days later," he said, barely above a whisper. "Heero…" Relena continued to gaze into those pain filled eyes, urging him to continue, and she barely registered how Duo bit his lip as he shortly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he said, "Two days later, Heero died."

Everything came crashing down around her. Relena let go of his shirt and Duo let go of her hands as she backed up one step, two, three steps, all the while shaking her head at him. He knew what she was going through. He'd been there ten fold, and he knew there wasn't anything she could do, or say, that would change what had happened. If there had been, he would have been on a plane to wherever she had been at the time within seconds of breaking down in grief at the hospital.

"No, you're wrong, he can't be," she denied. "You're lying. Heero isn't allowed to be…I mean it just isn't possible! You have to be…" She had been about to say that he was joking, but the raw emotion in the young man's eyes standing across from her was all the evidence she truly needed to know that Heero had died. As much as it hurt her, she knew it to be true.

_

* * *

_

All your purposes are gone  
_Nothing's right, and nothing's wrong  
__Nothing ventured, nothing gained  
__Feel no sorrow, feel no pain

* * *

_

Duo sat staring out the bay windows in the upstairs room. Two hours had passed since he'd told the young politician what had become of the Perfect Soldier. He stood in her room, staring out at the school grounds. She had a nice view here, and he had to admit, that it had a calming effect.

After denying it to herself, she had trailed off and looked at him. Duo couldn't imagine what she had seen when she'd met his eyes. Whatever it was, it had quieted her denials, and a second later, she was sprawled on the floor. Duo had wiped his eyes, turning his gaze out the window for a moment. He wished with all his heart that he could say he was lying, but he couldn't.

After a minute, he'd gone over to the door, made sure there was no one around so he wouldn't have to explain the reason for the former queen's current state of unconsciousness, before picking her up and going upstairs. It had taken him two tries to find her room. It was the only one with personal possessions in it. After putting her in bed and drawing up the covers, he had searched her room and removed every bug there, and then done the same with every room in the house, down to the kitchen and basement.

He'd come across the maid at one point, and she'd asked where her mistress was. He said she'd gone to bed, claiming to have a headache, but that he was going to stay until dinner, which would be brought to the teenaged girl's room at six.

A quick look at the clock on the bedside table let Duo know that in half an hour, the maid would be coming up to bring food for two. With a last look at the still blue sky, he turned and walked over to the side of the bed. He wondered if what he was doing was smart, but it wasn't as if he had much of a choice. He shook the blonde girl awake gently, and she opened her eyes, turning her head to look at him.

Confusion clouded her sleepy eyes as she looked at his face. She recognized him, he was sure, but for a moment, Relena couldn't fathom why he'd be in her room. Her first instinct was to yell at him and call for help, but her sharp mind remembered why he was there and sadness soon took place of the confusion. She sat up, her shoulders heavy with grief, and looked at him, not sure what to say. Looking at him, knowing what she now knew, she realized what had been different about him in the room. He had this air of sorrow about him that had never been there before or perhaps never as pronounced. He looked, for all the world, as if nothing would ever be right again, and perhaps nothing ever would be. At least, not for the pair of them. Least of all him.

"I bet you're wondering why it was him and not me," Duo said quietly to her, sitting at the edge of the bed, looking as if he was ready to get up if she put up any fuss. "I know I sure as hell asked myself that for the month or so I spent locked in my room. That's why I didn't come sooner. That and I hadn't really thought to come until a few days ago."

Mechanically, Relena opened her mouth to deny the allegation, but she closed it, knowing that the thought had briefly crossed her mind. Then she thought over the words that he had said, and she realized that Heero had been irrevocably removed from her life for about a month. She looked at Duo, really looked at him, and realized that there was nothing about him that she knew for her to truly dislike him as much as she had. She had simply done so for the simple fact that he was close to Heero, and that Heero had always been more inclined to be with the other boy rather than her. She'd been jealous, and she had hated Duo for something he had had no control over. Now as she looked at him, she could not hate him, not when he was so woebegone.

"Tell me everything," she said instead.

Obligingly, Duo told her what he'd related to the other ex-pilots when they'd first arrived at the hospital. He found himself going on to explain what they'd found out the day of speech, about someone searching for them. She was rapt by the tale, looking as if she were a child listening in at story time at the local public library. When he finished, he saw a calculating look on her face.

"Duo," she said, using his first name for the first time he could recall. "Do you think you can find these people?"

Duo looked at her skeptically, not sure where she was going with this. He found it, quite frankly, somewhat hard to believe that this girl who'd been ready to throw him out of her house two hours earlier simply for appearing in her office was now being so civil. Then again, he'd never given her a reason other than being a good friend of Heero's to hate him. Maybe she'd been thinking along the same lines as him. In another time, under different circumstances, they would have been good friends.

"The others will be looking, but I'm sure one of us could find something," he said cautiously.

Relena opened her mouth to continue, and then looked around. "Did you check this room for bugs?" At his nod, she went on with her original conversation. "Well, I'd like to help you, in whatever way I can. You can stay here, attend school here for a cover like I know you used to." At the look he gave her, she added with a pleading tone, "Please, for Heero. I want to make them pay too."

The maid walked in with dinner, setting it down at a table that was in the center of the room. She inquired after how Relena was feeling, and the blonde told her she was fine. Nodding, the maid turned and left, leaving the two alone again.

Duo stood up and went over to the table, pulling out one of two chairs to sit in while he thought over the politician's offer. Even if she hadn't been so nice about it, he would have considered her offer tempting. He could use the resources she could provide. Who knew what useless thing she knew that could possibly turn out to be more? Someone had bugged her home, it had been for a reason, and that alone was worth investigating.

"I don't know, you and me haven't always been chummy," Duo said, smelling the baked potato, green beans and chicken that had been prepared for his eating pleasure.

"I realize that," Relena said. "And I know it's mostly my fault. I'm sorry, but I'm willing to start over if you are. Please?"

Duo looked over at her, looking away from his food. "All right, but we have to make this perfectly clear. What I say goes on this matter. I wasn't a Gundam pilot for nothing, and I know how to go about this better than you do. We'll have to enroll me under a fake name, at the very least, and make some stuff up, because even here, I'm not safe. Someone is hunting me out there, and whoever it was nearly killed me. I can't put myself or the others in danger."

_

* * *

_

Kiss me while I'm still alive  
_Kill me while I kiss the sky  
__Let me die on my own terms  
__Let me live and let me learn

* * *

_

Hilde paced back and forth across her cell, a task that took seconds in the small room. It had been a month or so, assuming her sense of time wasn't a bit distorted with the lack of clocks and calendars, since she had talked to Jorgé. She was nearly sick with worry. How was Heero? Had they found out that he and Duo were Gundam pilots?

Going to the bed, she deposited herself onto it with a sigh, wanting some news to boost her bleak mood. Not that very much could, at this point.

She glared at the camera in the corner. Something was going on. Nobody had been released to work on the mobile suits, or at least she hadn't. This, to her, made absolutely no sense. Why had they bothered to go through the trouble of kidnapping her if they weren't going to put her to work? Perhaps it was her connection with Duo.

She remembered vividly what had happened her last day of freedom. Hilde hadn't thought it strange that her new client had wanted to meet between six thirty to seven in the evening. She'd had clients that worked late hours and were not able to meet her until late. Seeing how the second floor of her business was her apartment, she didn't mind having erratic hours. If she wanted, she could take a three hour break in the middle of the afternoon. One of the great benefits of being her own boss.

However, when the black van had pulled up to the curb in front of her building, a feeling of apprehension had curled and knotted, landing heavily at the pit of her stomach. She had been standing in the garage, the large garage door all the way up, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. Things had been quiet for once outside, so she'd gone out to enjoy it while she waited. She stood there; watching as the driver and passenger of the van got out, both dressed completely in black, down to the gloves they wore.

Hilde had been a solider, and her best friend a Gundam pilot. She knew that something was wrong here, every instinct she had honed during the war screamed at her to get away.

Taking a slow step backwards, she had moved her left hand towards the wall, hoping that her smiling face didn't betray her. A second before her fingers encountered the button to close the garage door, a side door on the van slid open and she saw that there were two more people. One yelled, having noticed her backing up, and the first two who had been slowly walking toward her picked up their pace.

Without a second thought, she punched the button. The heavy, metal door, though, even on a good day, was slow in coming down. Hilde had let go of her mug, the ceramic cup falling to the floor to break one entire side and cover the floor in a new mixture of chocolate and oil. Ignoring that for the moment, Hilde pulled out a Swiss army knife that she kept in her pocket more out of habit than necessity, beyond glad that she'd never stopped the old habit, and used it to cut the wires connected to the garage door. The effect was immediate, the weight of the door dragging it down against the wheels no longer working, and it came crashing down, the impact causing the large metal to bend slightly, but effectively blocking the men out.

Turning almost immediately, Hilde had sprinted up the metal staircase on the side that led up to her apartment, only musing once how the cup had been one of her favorites. Upon entering her apartment, she ran straight for the front door to lock it, but before she'd been within five feet of it, it was kicked in, and the door flew open. She had simply spun around, grabbing things and either dumping them on the floor or throwing them over her shoulder to slow down her pursuer. She had ran past the kitchen toward her room, thinking that she might still be able to use the fire escape, but a second man came out of her room, and she slid to a stop. She backtracked into the kitchen, grabbing the cordless phone as it came into sight.

When the second man lunged for her, she'd jumped up on the counter away from him, knocking a few dishes onto the floor. Taking the hint, she grabbed whatever dishes were nearby and threw them at the second guy as she jumped down off the counter and attempted to dial the first number to pop into her head. One well-aimed throw hit him hard in the head, knocking him out, but she'd forgotten about the first guy, who grabbed her from behind. Effortlessly, he yanked the phone from her grasp and hung it up, throwing it over his shoulder, not caring where it landed.

Hilde used her right hand to push the guy's elbow away from her windpipe, using her left to elbow him in the gut as hard as possible as she kicked him in the shin at the same time. He grunted, but his grasp didn't ease, and she head butted him, causing his nose to bleed. It was a guaranteed headache in the morning, but if she managed to get away, it would be worth it. She'd dropped down to her feet, tripped the guy, and then made for the stairs to head back into the garage. She stopped at the landing, looking about down there for any working vehicle she might want to use. She cursed herself for keeping her working car and motorcycle outside the garage with only the ones needing repair being housed inside of it. That was not helping her at the moment.

She was about to turn around when a yell behind her made her think twice. With a quick look down and an even quicker prayer sent up, she jumped the railing, opting for a faster way than running or falling down the stairs. She landed on her feet, stumbled, and fell to her hands and knees before jumping up and heading toward her dimly lit work area. She had a few things there she could use as a weapon, not to mention another phone in the office.

Faintly, she heard the door open and voices, but she couldn't focus on them, though. Their heavy footsteps echoed through the garage as at least two of them stormed down the metal stairs. Hilde just made a beeline for her office, creating a mess of tools on the floor in her wake as she rummaged through things laid out on tables by waiting vehicles and engines for trucks and bigger machines. Finally, she found an electric nail gun (A/N: No clue if this actually exist, but hey, I needed one, so it exists now ) and turned around. She shot it three times, more concerned with slowing down her targets than actually hitting them. One of them cursed, and she grinned as she turned and went into her office. There were two doors. One going in from the garage, and one directly across going into the alley between her building and the one next door.

She paused at the doorway to her office, not sure exactly what to do until she saw the light switches opposite her, next to the alley door. She switched them all off, buying herself some time. One of the guys cursed, and she left the office door open as she opened the one to the alley way and slammed it shut in front of her. She didn't actually go out; instead, she crawled under the desk, snatching the phone down with her.

The ruse had worked for a moment, and she could hear one guy yelling into a walkie-talkie that "the chick" had run out into the alley. Hilde held her breath as they both came into the office and then walked out into the alley. She counted to fifteen slowly in her head before she dialed the first person who came to mind: Duo. Perhaps these people were here looking for him. Even if they weren't, he would come help her as soon as possible, though that would at least be a few hours if he was still on Earth. In any case, she knew he could help. As the phone rang in her ear, she stood, closed, and locked both doors, going back under the desk. The line just kept ringing, and with each new one, her heartbeat became faster. She knew the men would come back and check the place when they realized she hadn't run out.

She'd been right. As Duo's voice came from the other line, informing her he wasn't in, there came a pounding at the door. Hilde had dropped the phone and ran for the door into her garage when the alley door began splintering, but what she'd done to protect herself worked against her as she fumbled with the lock. As she finally unlocked it and pulled the door open, the door opposite finally broke and an arm went around her neck, the guy's left hand covering her mouth.

Naturally, she had struggled for all she was worth. When another guy came in and grabbed at her legs, she'd kicked, one foot coming in contact with the office door's square window, causing a small rain of glass to fall upon the floor. Nevertheless, that, and her muffled screams had gone unheard as she was literally half dragged and half carried, alternating as she struggled frantically against her captors, to the van at the street curb. It was pointless though, she knew. Even if anyone in this area had heard or seen anything, it wasn't the best part of L2, and they weren't going to come to her aide for fear of being mixed up in something really bad. Forlornly, as she was thrown unceremoniously into the van and drugged, she thought about how she'd been looking at buildings in a better part of town to move her growing business. Her last fleeting thought had been how she had wished Duo had been with her to help.

"You seem lost in thought. What is it you're thinking about?"

Hilde looked up, startled, and realized she'd lost herself in the memory, and now that guy, Jorgé, was leaning against the doorframe. He was studying her, and she shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, and she wished she had access to the baggiest, scruffiest clothes she could find.

"How much I wish I'd kept my gun after the war," she said. "Then I could have used it on your men when they abducted me."

He laughed, amused at her. "I've no doubt that you would have." He came in, the door closing behind him, and he came over and sat down beside her once again on the cot. Jorgé looked at her, dark, cold eyes watching her for a reaction as he said, "He died."

Her own eyes widened. "Who did?" she asked, remembering that she had claimed not to know Duo's war buddies. She couldn't afford to make slip-ups here. There was a lot riding on the information that she knew, but kept hidden. Possibly more than she was even aware.

"The guy who was with your friend," Jorgé supplied. Still, he watched her, as if trying to gauge how much of what she said was the truth. "At least, that's what the hospital records say."

"Oh, that's too bad. But Max is okay?" she asked, hoping she pulled off the twinge of relief and sympathy she tried to lace into her voice. She noticed the implication he was making with his last comment, but she didn't mention it. If it really had been Heero, (as she was almost positive it was) she had her doubts too about whether he was dead. For Duo's sake, she hoped he wasn't.

He was quiet for such a long time, Hilde feared that he wouldn't answer, or worse, tell her something that she didn't want to hear. Finally, he said, "We don't know. He seems to have disappeared. It seems he's escaped us, or we've lost track of him."

She didn't know how to respond to this. She was glad. She was absolutely overjoyed. Hilde didn't care where he was, as long as they couldn't find him. However, she wasn't sure if that would be the right reaction.

"Do you by any chance know where he is?" her captor, or at least one of them, asked after his announcement was only met with silence.

She shook her head, not even having to pretend, because she honestly wouldn't know. "Max was a drifter, always going from one place to another. It's like that for a lot of us who fought in the war. We're teens, most of us, and we saw some pretty bad things. Max saw a lot of close guys go down." Hilde said no more, hoping that that would suffice and that she'd be left alone with her glee.

Jorgé ran a finger down the side of Hilde's face and she drew back, not having expected the intimate touch, and not welcoming it either. The look in his eyes bothered her, and she backed herself into the corner of the cot, having no other choice of places to go. "I think you know more than you're letting on," he said quietly, clearly amused at her retreat. "I can't prove it, and you seem honest in your answers, but you're bound to slip up eventually. Your friend is important to this, I'm sure, whether he's one of the pilots or not."

Before Hilde could say anything, he grabbed her ankle and dragged her forward over the sheets towards him. She tried to pull away, or even kick at him, but he was stronger than he looked. With a grip like steel, he grabbed her chin and kissed her hard, his mouth punishing on hers. Vainly, she tried to push him away or to pull away from him, but until he finally released her, she was powerless. When he finally did, he only looked amused at the disgust clearly written on her face. Without another word to her, he stood up and made a small motion towards the window, and someone opened her cell door from outside.

Hilde wiped furiously at her lips, his actions disturbing her greatly. She hoped that was a one time, spur of the moment thing. She was scared he would take it farther. If he chose to do so, nothing she could do would stop him, and she doubted she'd be getting any help from anyone within the place.

Lying down and turning on the cot so that she was facing the wall, Hilde vowed at that moment that she was going to find a way to stop them. She was on the inside. Granted, she was a prisoner, but electronic geniuses and engineers surrounded her. She wasn't too shabby on either account, but with the added help, she was positive that they could do some sabotage and slow things down while she found a way to contact Duo. Furthermore, she was going to have to be more cooperative and keep her ears open for things. If she were careful, she would hear quite a lot of useful information. She might be a prisoner, but she was _not_ defenseless or weak.

_

* * *

_

Now I'll follow my own way  
_And I'll live on to another damn day  
__Freedom carries sacrifice  
__Remember when this was my life_

_Looking forward not behind  
__Everybody's gotta cross that line  
__Free me now to give me a place  
__Keep me caged and free the beast_

_Falling faster time goes by  
__Fear is not seen through these eyes  
__What there was will never be  
__Now I'm blind and cannot see_

_Kiss me while I'm still alive  
__Kill me while I kiss the sky  
__Let me die on my own terms  
__Let me live and let me learn_

_Now I'll follow my own way  
__And I'll live on to another damn day  
__Freedom carries sacrifice  
__Remember when this was my life_

_Kiss me while I'm still alive  
__Kill me while I kiss the sky  
__Let me die on my own term  
__Let me live and let me learn_

3 Doors Down "Life of My Own"

A/N: Okay, I kinda didn't want to end it there, but I didn't want to make this any longer. Don't worry; things are starting to get moving now. At least, I hope they will. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do the next chapter. Ah well, it'll be good, I promise .

The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update.

Sao


	7. Other Matters

\B\e\w\a\r\e\

/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s

Disc: Not mine, unfortunately. Why? Because I'm not smart enough to come up with the idea of mobile suits on my own -- Please don't rub it in ::snifflez::

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r\

/S/e/v/e/n/

Other Matters

Relena sat up in bed, her back against the headboard, eyes focused on the stars outside her window, directly across from her. The day was replaying in her mind as tears fell silently. The thought of never getting to see Heero ever again, never to talk to him, hurt her so much. It was as if someone had put a hand around her heart and was squeezing it tightly. Relena didn't want to believe it. She wanted to crawl beneath her blankets and pretend that this day had never happened. That one Duo Maxwell hadn't returned to shatter her already cracked world.

At the thought of the young man, her eyes strayed through the door he had left through a few minutes ago. She had called the guard at the gate for him so he would be admitted in when he arrived at the gate. He had said something about a motorcycle, but she had only been half listening. Now, she couldn't help but wonder why she was helping her once-hated peer.

Then she remembered the soul-searing pain that she had seen in his eyes twice that day already. The first time he had masked it with a somber, serious look as he had told her the solemn news. The second time it had been shoved behind burning anger at the people responsible for Heero's death. Frankly, the raw emotion in his eyes had scared Relena thoroughly. And to think, he had already dealt with his friend's death for a month. It seemed instead of dulling the boy's pain and anger; it had all increased by a lot.

Relena stood, suddenly finding her room stuffy. She headed toward the window she had previously been staring out. With little difficulty, she opened the window and a warm breeze caressed her face as she leaned out somewhat.

What had happened to her world of late, she wondered. After the Mariemaia incident, aside from the lack of a certain young man's presence by her side, she had thought there was nothing wrong with her life. A month later, she had found it all stifling but considered her work more important than her personal happiness. Besides, if things became worse, then she'd consider resigning. Unfortunately, life had had other plans. How she wished she'd given this life up at the first opportunity. But she'd been scared.

She laughed at that last thought. She'd stood at gunpoint, been at the very feet of mobile suit battles and been nearly blown up or crushed a number of times. All those times, the most that she had felt was some trepidation. However, that was nothing to what she had felt at the thought of giving up her current occupation for the unknown. Relena had never had a lack of things to work toward after her father's death. Since then, she'd had one thing or another to do. While the idea of starting from nothing and working her way up through her own doing sounded exciting, actually going through it terrified her.

Relena's laughter gave way to tears. How had she gotten herself into this situation? What's more, the one person she had thought to find to help her was now dead. Of everyone she knew there were only two who could've helped her. She was out of luck with the other choice. Who knew how Milliardo currently fared? Her next thought was of the violet-eyed young man whom she had treated contemptuously who was being torn apart by his own pain.

_

* * *

Send away for a priceless gift  
__One not subtle, one not on the list  
__Send away for a perfect world  
__One not simply, so absurd_  
_In these times of doing what you're told  
__You keep these feelings, no one knows_  
_Whatever happened to the young man's heart  
__Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart

* * *

_

His vision swam as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times at the bright lights over his head, trying to focus. Feeling lightheaded, he looked around bleary-eyed. When his vision finally became clear, he saw that two of the four walls were mirrors and the other two were padded.

He tried to figure out where he was, but it wouldn't come to him. Next, he tried to recall his name, or perhaps why he was here, but again, he couldn't remember. He remembered being held, a needle, doctors, but nothing else. Where exactly was he? Why was there no one with him?

Shakily, he stood and stumbled over to one of the mirrors. He peered through it, putting his hands cupped to the glass and peering through. He wasn't sure how he knew that there were people on the other side, but he knew. He didn't question it; it felt like the only clear thing he could tell definitely about the room. When he could make nothing out, he went to the other one and repeated the procedure. Again, he could make out nothing, not even a dark figure so he turned and inspected the room, but lost his balance in the process and fell to his knees.

He felt lightheaded. It seemed at any moment, his entire body would begin to float, although at the same time, he could feel his eyelids growing heavy. Had they done something to him? Perhaps he was sick. He didn't know, couldn't remember any way to tell if it was either. Memories and images eluded him; words were lost to him too, and he thought it a good thing that there was no one there. He wasn't sure he would remember how to speak. Leaning back, he sat so that his legs were stretched out in front of him and his arms were behind him, supporting him so he wouldn't fall onto his back.

He looked at the two white, padded walls. Looking down, he realized he was sitting upon the same material that made the walls. It was cushioned, with small indentures here and there that made the floor and wall look as if it were made up of pillows. It was all white, and looking down once more, he saw that he was _wearing_ all white, and that he was barefoot. He turned his attention back to the walls and thought back, thinking that perhaps this wasn't the first time he had awoken to find himself in this room. He had found something last time, if he could trust the disjointed memories that he could make out in his head. It had been a line or something. Squinting at the walls, he finally found it in a corner where a padded wall met a mirrored one.

He stood up again, going over to the line to see what it was there. Coming up to it, he put his hand there, and then fit his fingers along the line. It wasn't a line. It was the thin edge of a door. One could barely make it out if they didn't already know it existed. He pulled a bit at it, but ceased after a few seconds, knowing that it wouldn't open from this side.

Instead, he turned and sat in the corner where the two walls with mirrors met, knowing that if he did so, they wouldn't be able to see him there. Small things like that were coming into his foggy mind, and he had a brief thought of being drugged. That was most likely why he couldn't remember anything, not even his name. He knew he was a guy, wasn't sure how, but he knew, and he thought harder, hoping to uncover something in his mind. He had to be here for a reason, or else he would be able to leave whenever he chose to.

He dug deeper and deeper into the recess of his mind, but nothing was making sense. He remembered faces, images, and trivial things that couldn't help him at the moment. He saw bloody images that he would have rather left undiscovered. Things that he wondered how he had ever dealt with seeing first hand, but he couldn't remember how he'd done it. He closed his eyes and lay down on his side, letting his mind wander among the memories he had managed to uncover, knowing that someone was going to do something so he wouldn't remember them next time he arose. Soon, coherent thought, the few he had had, were lost as images came to his tired and exhausted mind.

A little girl laughing, smiling at him…

Fire, ashes, and searing heat…

The cockpit of a mobile suit, the empty blue sky seen from the eyes of the machine…

Battles surrounded by fire…

A young blond girl, face set and determined, speaking of peace…

A gun; a woman's screams; more fire and ashes…

Always fire and ashes…

_

* * *

And I'm staring down the barrel of a .45  
__Swimming through the ashes of another life  
__No real reason to accept the way things have changed  
__Staring down the barrel of a .45

* * *

_

Trowa stared at the ceiling above his head. His roommate was in the shower, and he was glad. The boy constantly tried to get him to talk, and it was annoying. The kid was a snob, used to getting his way, and used to people responding to the things he said. It figured that with the way things were going in his life, Trowa would have one more added annoyance in it. He didn't need to have this kid making it hard to adjust to working solo for a while.

Turning his head, he saw the picture he had in a silver frame, set down on his nightstand facing the bed. It was a black and white picture, taken with a salvaged, ancient camera. In it stood five guys, the leg of a mobile suit visible in one corner, various expressions on the five different faces. The first was Wufei's stoic face, a small smile on his lips, arms crossed; wearing the white traditional clothes he'd always worn back during the war. The second face was Quatre's, his easy smile lighting up his face, the shirt that Trowa had remembered to be a light shade of pink devoid of the accompanying vest. Trowa's own face, with a slight smile, was next, and he remembered how Duo had asked if he was crazy, wearing a turtleneck shirt in seventy-two degree weather. Duo's face was next, that impish grin that everyone had grown accustomed to during the war on his face, his infamous priest garb on. His right hand was held up in a piece sign, while his left arm was slung over Heero's shoulder, who was the last person. Heero wasn't smiling, his stony face looking straight at the camera, but Trowa remembered how, when Duo had put his arm on the other boy's shoulder last minute, the Wing pilot had colored slightly. On his upper left arm, a black smudge marked him; oil acquired a moment before the picture when Heero had been working on his Gundam. It was Wing's leg that was in the corner of the picture, since they had had to go there to find the 01 pilot, and Duo had brought the camera saying that they would most likely have a hard time getting Heero away from his Gundam to take it. How he'd been right.

Thinking of Heero turned Trowa's thoughts to Duo, and he frowned slightly at the photo. They had been in a war, yet things had been easier then. They had been happier somewhat. Yes, they were all glad that the war was over. That innocent people were no longer dying for the causes of an individual or a group that they didn't follow. Still, they were left to return to lives that had never been meant for anything else in some cases such as Heero's and him. For others, it was returning to a life that was distinctly different from the one they had left, which had been the case with Wufei, who no longer had his wife or family, and Quatre who was returning as not only a prince, but head of a business. Then there was Duo, who perhaps was the only one who had been better off from when he had gone into the war. Even he had been somewhat unhappy, perhaps because he was unsure of what to do with himself.

Trowa shook his head, feeling somewhat guilty, not wanting to think about such things anymore. He raised his arm and looked at the watch around his wrist. It was late, he was suffering a bit of jet lag, though he knew no one would be able to tell looking at him, and he wanted to sleep. However, he couldn't yet. He had to wait for—

A phone rang in the room, and Trowa picked it up before his roommate could hear it in the bathroom.

"It's about time. I've been waiting for a while. You were supposed to call an hour ago…"

_

* * *

Send a message to the unborn child  
__Keep your eyes open for a while  
__In a box high up on a shelf  
__Left for you, no one else  
__There's a piece of a puzzle known as life  
__Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight  
__Whatever happened to the young man's heart  
__Swallowed by pain as he slowly fell apart

* * *

_

Quatre looked at the gun that was held in front of his face with indifference. Really, he'd expected this. A matter of fact, if it hadn't occurred, he would have been disappointed and suspicious. He'd only been home for a good five hours or so, and already there was someone out to assassinate him in hopes to get control of his company. Or it was someone who wanted to kill him because he was a prince, in which case it was someone who wanted the throne. It didn't matter which one it was, he would find out in a moment.

Yawning, knowing it would make the hired gun angry; Quatre said in an indifferent tone, "It would be wiser for you to put the gun down. After all, it's only your life that hangs in the balance."

Sure enough, what could be made out of the assassin's face through and around his mask, turned red. He was slim and about Quatre's height, maybe a little shorter. Other than that, the desert prince couldn't tell if they were a guy or a girl since the assassin was dressed entirely in black, and his shirt was a tad bit baggy.

"I think you're mistaken," the voice said. It was a poor imitation of an older man's voice, and Quatre thought perhaps his wanna-be assassin was no more than his age, perhaps younger, which might explain the height. Quatre didn't mind admitting he was on the short side for a seventeen year old. "You're the one whose life is on the line if you don't cooperate."

Quatre raised his eyebrow. Perhaps this wasn't a would-be assassin, but a kidnapper. Frankly, that was the only way his implying that he might let Quatre live made sense, although Quatre _knew_ that he would live. Even as they spoke, the Maguanac corps was surrounding them. Briefly, his gaze flickered to his right, where he knew Rashid would be, and he saw the small motion that was his signal that they were ready on his command.

"Are you sure about that?" Quatre questioned. He let the other teen (for he was certain they were around his age) mull that over while he let his mind wander. There was something familiar about this person, but he couldn't place what it was. He looked about the courtyard in front of his home, making it seem as if he was inspecting all that was his when really, he was checking for the two other signals for the other two groups. When he spotted them, he turned his attention back, silently musing how convenient so many alcoves and darkened spots to hide in was. "You see, you failed to remember, or perhaps find out, one thing. Someone as important as myself—" Quatre hated how pompous that sounded, but he needed to get his point across to the youth. "—would undoubtedly have bodyguards. And I happen to have the best."

With that, Quatre gave a slight nod, and the Maguanac corps all came out from where they were hiding. The gun wavered in the guy's hand as he realized how vastly outnumbered he was. Then, the gun grew steady and remained trained on the rich young man as the gunner spoke.

"They won't dare try anything lest I shoot you," they stated, forgetting to mask their voice better. Quatre blinked. He knew that voice. He was positive about it now. There was no doubt in his mind that he knew this person, but he couldn't figure out who it could possibly be. That he could recall, not one of the people who could possibly want to kill him were this short, or as young as he suspected the gunner to be. "Tell them to back off or I fire a shot." Again, Quatre blinked. He had just realized, the gunner, was a _girl_!

"You're a girl," he spoke the thought aloud, somewhat surprised. Rashid heard the comment, and he raised an eyebrow, but said no more as the gunner spoke.

"And? That doesn't make this gun any less deadly," he—she—threatened.

"No, it doesn't," agreed Quatre. "It also won't save you. Shoot me, and things become much worse for you. Because you will have to shoot me, for I refuse to leave with you or cooperate with you."

Looking around it seemed the girl was counting to see how many men there were. However, catching Quatre completely off guard, she quickly threw her gun at him, ripping her mask off and throwing it in Rashid's face so she could slide literally in between his legs and take off running. The Maguanac made as if to pursue her, but Quatre ordered them not to, watching the figure disappear into the town beyond his gates with a puzzled and troubled expression, if somewhat surprised as well. If he'd known beforehand who the girl was, he would have expected such a tactic for escape. Then again, never would he have thought to see Dorothy Catalonia holding him at gunpoint.

_

* * *

And I'm staring down the barrel of a .45  
__Swimming through the ashes of another life  
__No real reason to accept the way things have changed  
__Staring down the barrel of a .45

* * *

_

Duo leaned against the wall outside the parlor. He watched as a few men and women in business suits walked out. There were perhaps six of them in all, unless he had missed one or two leaving, or some were still in there with Relena. He doubted it, though. He was fairly certain that there had only been the six, four men and two women. They'd arrived about two and a half hours ago, and they, along with Relena, had been holed up in the parlor for the entire hundred fifty minutes. Peering around the corner of the door, he saw a tired young blond leaning her head on her hands, elbows on her desk.

"Are they always like that?" he asked. He'd originally intended to rib her about it, but it didn't seem like now was the time for teasing, even if after a week and a half, he was beginning to lighten up around the young politician.

Relena looked up, surprised to hear someone ask a question so gently (at least compared to the six that had just left). It seemed as if the concept was a stranger to her of a sudden. She smiled somewhat at Duo and nodded.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to having you around," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. "Truthfully, you're the last person I would have ever imagined living under the same roof with."

Duo came in and shrugged. "Ditto for me too. You still didn't answer my question, though. Are they always like that?"

When he wanted to know something, he was like a dog to a bone. He didn't want to let it go. Therefore, Relena supplied him with an answer.

"You mean so arrogant, accusing, demanding, and deaf to opinions other than theirs?" She shook her head somewhat. "I'd be lying if I said no. I think they are tougher on me because I'm younger. I'm not sure if they want me to fail or succeed, whether they're supporting me or just waiting for me to fall. I don't know. I want to trust them, but I know that would be not only naïve, it would be stupid too. But it's as if I can't speak anymore. I'm beginning to think that my values, my beliefs, the things I worked hard for during the war are being forgotten."

Duo looked at her and for the first time ever considered how hard it must be to be working so hard, under so much pressure, with so many eyes watching when you were only seventeen. He thought that perhaps maybe, he had underestimated Ms. Darlian. Sure, he knew he'd been through more with the war alone, but he still hadn't realized how hard it must be to be a politician. It was like his current position. You couldn't turn your back on people because they might turn out to be your enemy.

"Hey, I was gonna go to the mall to get myself a laptop," Duo said for a change of subject. "You know, to start looking for information. Not to mention I have to…access my account so I can buy things for school before it starts next week. Do you want to come along?"

Relena looked up, somewhat surprised by the invitation. The past week and a half, they had become a bit more comfortable with each other, although there were times when they found themselves in uncomfortable silences. They had once only hurled insults at each other, could not stand each other, and now found that they actually did not mind each other as much as they previously had thought. However, that still did not give them a lot in common, and they couldn't entirely forget their previous dislike of each other. They'd spent little time together in the house, and none out of it. There had been an entire day when Relena had not seen Duo at all apart from a brief glimpse of him before he had left in the morning. She hadn't thought he would invite her, but she found that she actually would not mind going.

"Sure. I don't have anything that's so important I can't cancel," Relena agreed, a small smile on her lips.

"All right," Duo said. "You go change. Seeing how we don't want any nosy reporters following us, I'll take the bike out and park on a side street. I'll sneak in the way I came in the first time, and get you out that way. You'll really get to play hooky today!"

Relena smiled at the first real cheer in the other boy. Not that he'd been gloomy; she contemplated as she watched him leave the parlor and heard the front door open and close a few seconds later. On the contrary, he was bright and cheery and chatty a lot of the times, if not with her, with the house staff. However, there were times when he thought someone was too busy laughing, or that no one was looking at him, when he'd let the mask slip for a moment and she saw how much he was hurting inside. The times they had sat down and conversed the past eleven or twelve days, she had learned to look at his eyes. No matter what his voice or face or smile indicated, his eyes almost always showed what he was truly feeling. One just had to know what to look for, and the pain he was feeling was the only one she could detect in those eyes, but detect it she could. After all, they mirrored the pain in hers.

_

* * *

Everyone's pointing their fingers  
__Always condemning me  
__And nobody knows what I believe  
__I believe_

_And I'm staring down the barrel of a .45  
__Swimming through the ashes of another life  
__No real reason to accept the way things have changed  
__Staring down the barrel of a .45_

".45" Shine Down

A/N: A friend of mine was singing this almost non-stop the last couple days of school, and I figured since it was the one that was stuck in my head while I wrote this, it might as well be the one in the chapter. After all, you can tell that it was the one stuck in my head in certain parts. Please tell me what you think. I like the way things are progressing (which are pretty good for me), and I want to know if perhaps I'm just sad and pathetic and have low standards for myself.

Sao


	8. Discussions

B\e\w\a\r\e\

/O/f/

\S\t\r\a\n\g\e\r\s

Disc: This will probably be the last time I say this. Simply because if by the eighth time you read it, you don't get it, you probably won't. I do not own any of the Gundam characters. I simply am manipulating them for my own ends. The handful of other characters that you do not recognize belong to me. Aaaaaaaaaaall mine.

Note: I apologize that this did not go up as soon as I wanted to. My computer was messing up and Best Buy wanted a ridiculous amount of money to fix it. And then, my computer fixed itself (go figure), but life right now is hectic. In any case, hope you enjoy this chapter. As soon as things settle down, I'll try to get more consistent.

Sao

\C\h\a\p\t\e\r\

/E/i/g/h/t/

Discussions

"So, have you managed to uncover anything?" On the other line, there was a sigh and Wufei knew what the answer was going to be before a single word was uttered.

"I'm afraid that so far, we're no closer now than we were two months ago. Noin has been stretching herself trying to head up both this investigation and her original search."

Wufei raised an eyebrow as he made his way down the sidewalk past a fruit vendor and a few elderly women looking through his wares. "Sally, you mean there's still no word on Zechs' whereabouts?"

She sighed again. "No. There hasn't been a single sighting of him anywhere. It's as if he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Noin is beside herself with worry, but she's also very professional. She doesn't want this to get in the way of preventing any kind of plot surrounding you and the others."

Wufei was silent for a moment. Lucrezia Noin had joined Preventers around the same time that he had. As far as he knew, she had still been in touch with the former White Fang leader. Wufei didn't trust the guy at all. He'd once lead a radical group in the hopes of destroying Earth and killing millions upon millions of innocent people. How could _anyone_ ever fully trust someone like that?

"Wufei?"

Bringing his attention back to her, he addressed Sally. "Is it possible that the two are somehow connected?"

"Hm…that is possible," Sally conceded. She was quiet for a moment before adding, "Noin thought so as well, I believe, which is why she's heading both. But, I don't think either one of you will agree on _how_."

"I think he may be behind it," Wufei said, confirming Sally's belief.

"And Noin believes they probably kidnapped him," Sally replied. "I understand why you don't trust him, Wufei, but think about it this way. He knew some of you guys, if not all, right? He'd be more subtle about searching, and he probably would be halfway done with whatever plot is being played out by now."

She had a point, though Wufei was still reluctant to cross off the former OZ soldier from his list of suspects.

"It doesn't mean he can't be behind it," Wufei argued. "Until we can prove otherwise, he should be treated as a possible suspect. Any and everyone who has any reason whatsoever to have any kind of interest in us should be suspected."

"True."

"I'll call again in a week or two to see how Noin is progressing. In the meantime, I think I'll investigate some more into his disappearance on my own," Wufei informed the Preventers leader. "Let Noin know that I should be in touch to see what she has already gathered on the matter."

"Should I tell her why?" Sally asked.

Wufei thought about it for a moment. "No. I would rather have her cooperation on the matter and that will be easier to attain if I don't have to worry about her possibly keeping information or feeding me false information out of a sense of loyalty to Zechs."

"Very well. But she's smart, Lucrezia is," Sally reminded him. "You won't be able to keep her in the dark for long, Wufei."

* * *

_He who makes a beast out of himself__  
Gets rid of the pain of being a man_

_Caught here in a fiery blaze  
Won't lose my will to stay__  
I tried  
To drive all through the night  
The heatstroke-ridden weather  
The barren empty sight_

* * *

He opened his eyes, staring at the blank, white ceiling above his head; unsure of what it was that had woken him. His dreams and nightmares had been consumed in fire, meshing so that he no longer knew one from the other. He wasn't sure what, if any of it, had been memories. Even as he thought about it, many of the images slipped from his mind. He wondered when, _if_, he would ever have his memories back.

"You're awake."

He sat up quickly, one of his hands instinctively reaching for his waist before he realized that there was nothing there. For a moment, he wondered why that was his immediate reaction, but pushed the thought aside to ponder over later as he looked at the man standing in the corner of his room.

The man wore a white coat over dark pants and a light blue button-down shirt. At his side, he held a clipboard.

"Do you remember me?" he asked, his other hand slipping a pair of glasses from his shirt pocket onto his face. He shook his head, watching the man warily. "Hm, well, at least you're conscious and coherent."

"Who are you?"

The man blinked, then smiled. "Of course, I should introduce myself. I apologize. I'm Dr. Gary Bonds. You can just call me Gary, if you prefer."

"Gary…" He thought about that, but the name didn't seem familiar to him. "Where am I? And why?"

"You're here because you were in a near fatal accident," Dr. Bonds explained. "We very nearly lost you. As it is, you were in a coma for a few months. We don't believe it was long enough to cause brain damage, although you do seem to have a very bad case of amnesia. Honestly…"

Dr. Bonds seemed to hesitate, as if he wasn't sure if he should confide the following. He looked at the windows for a moment, confirming his patient's belief that there were, at least sometimes, people behind them, before continuing in a lower voice.

"Honestly, this is about the third time I introduce myself to you," he admitted softly. "I'm afraid if you don't start to retain memories soon, we'll have to run some tests to see if there's something more going on than what we suspected."

He hadn't answered the first question, but that last part of what he said was something to worry about. Dr. Bonds eyed his patient as he took this in. He remembered, vaguely, being strapped to a table, but he wasn't sure if it was an actual memory or a fragment of a nightmare. Either way, he didn't want them running any kinds of tests on him.

"You know," the doctor said, drawing his attention again. "Well, I know you don't remember, but, we were friends before this accident of yours."

"We…were…?" Now he was disconcerted. If they'd been friends, how could he not even remember the doctor's name?

"Oh, yes, good friends." Dr. Bonds came over and leaned against the wall next to him. "You're a pretty important person, as well. I don't want to overwhelm you with details just yet, though. You really have been through a lot." He looked down at him and grinned sheepishly. "I'd hate for me, in my excitement that you seem to be getting better, make it worse by weighing you down with a lifetime's worth of information."

He didn't answer, just simply nodded. He stayed seated, eyes moving over the room. The doctor seemed to read his mind.

"We had to put you here after you woke up," he explained. "You were confused and the less you could recall the more erratic your behavior. We didn't want you hurting yourself."

"We?"

Dr. Bonds nodded. "The higher ups and I. Of course, you do seem better. I'll pass by a few more times in the next two or three days, and if you're still the same, we'll move you to a better room." He smiled. "One with actual windows. You'd like that, right?"

He nodded. He would. He could only take looking at the same walls for so long. If the doctor was right about how he'd been previously, he could understand why they'd put him here. Still, it didn't change the fact that he felt like a prisoner.

"Well, I should be going," Dr. Bonds said, pushing off the wall and straightening his coat. "I'm afraid I've work to do, but I'll send someone with lunch, if you're hungry?" At his patient's nod, he smiled again. "Good. An appetite is good. Well, then, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, he headed back to the corner of the room where he'd been standing earlier. Looking around him, the patient noticed that it was the same corner where he'd discovered the edge of a door. He'd been right, he thought, as it opened and Dr. Bonds started heading out.

"Wait."

Dr. Bonds looked back at him, one hand on the handle of the door located on the outside of it. Behind him, the walls of a hallway could be seen in a light, greenish color that for a moment, distracted his patient. Something that wasn't white.

"Yes?"

"Oh." Coming back to himself, his gaze drifted back to the doctor, who was looking at him expectantly. He noticed a slight tension about the shoulders, and the doctor's grip on the door handle was slightly tighter than it should have been. He realized the doctor was worried he might try to overpower him and escape the room. It was an interesting idea, but he had no idea where he'd go even if he could find his way out of this place. "I…wanted to know…" He cleared his throat, not sure if he was prepared for this, but curious nonetheless. "What's my name?"

"…Teo…"

* * *

_No oasis here to see  
The sand is singing deathless words to me_

_Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone)  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention  
_

* * *

She hated this heat. Fucking hated it. Her throat was dry, her eyes were dry, even her damn nose felt dry. Reaching a hand under the cloth that hid her head and face, she scratched at her scalp. Her head not only felt dry, but she could almost swear she had a layer of sand in there. Oh, she hated it here.

Moving with the crowd, she made her way past vendors, all of whom tried to get her attention. She kept her hands tucked in her sleeve and her face and head hidden. If she didn't, she would draw every vendor's attention and they in turn would draw the attention of the Maguanac soldiers she was sure would be looking for her by now. She couldn't be sure Quatre hadn't seen her face when she'd taken the mask off to escape. That meant there was a possibility they had an exact description of who they were looking for.

She'd _really_ bungled this up.

_Dorothy, that was very very sloppy,_ she told herself, shaking her head.

Sighing, she looked around. She'd seen none of the Maguanac and people drifted past her without a second glance. For now, it seemed, she'd made her escape. If she could, she'd be better off taking advantage of that to get transport out of there, but she couldn't leave. Not yet. She'd come here for a reason, and until she'd gone through with it, here is where she had to remain.

Passing another stall of wares, her eye was caught by what she was looking at. Dyes. For henna. There were all different shades of various colors. In a mutter, she asked the woman manning the stall how much and was grateful when the woman not only spoke English, but offered to sell them at a lower price if she bought more than one bottle of the dye. Perfect.

Dorothy nodded her head, promised to get money and send her child and moved away. She had the money on her, but aside from the Winner family, no one in town was as pale-skinned as she was. The woman would take note of that if Dorothy tried to hand over the money. And while she might not say something, if questioned later by the Maguanac, she'd be able to accurately say she might have seen who they were looking for. Dorothy didn't want to chance it.

At the corner by a fruit vendor, a few children were gathered. Running her eyes over them, she picked out a little girl who looked to be about eight years old. She was a bit dirty and bedraggled, but not the worst of the bunch. What really caught Dorothy's eyes, though, was the gleam of intelligence in the girl's dark brown eyes. She might be useful.

Wandering over, she stood a few feet away from the group of children. They looked over at her, but she waited until the girl had turned as well before motioning her to come. At first, the girl hesitated, looking around to the others as if they could tell her what was going on. Then, when Dorothy shrugged and moved as if to continue, the girl's curiosity got the better of her and she jumped up to follow.

Dorothy ignored the girl's queries which she didn't understand anyway and simply motioned her to follow her to an alley. Checking to be sure it was empty, she went in. The girl hesitated, no doubt for good reasons. It wasn't uncommon for street children to go missing and put to various uses, alive or dead. To ease her nerves, Dorothy held her hands out to her side, hands still covered by the sleeves.

"Do you speak English?" she asked. "I won't hurt you."

The girl moved into the alley cautiously. "Yes, I do. Who are you? What do you want?"

"I need someone to run errands for me," Dorothy explained. "Someone smart and quick. Do you have family?"

The girl shook her head. "What kind of errands?"

"An orphan, even better," said Dorothy, more to herself. "All types of errands. And you would come to stay with me and you'd be fed. Sound good to you?"

"Yes!" The girl nodded enthusiastically and moved further into the alley so she was only standing a few feet from Dorothy. She looked over her shoulder once, most likely to be sure none of the other children were around to try and take this from her.

"Good. Now, what's your name?"

"Leila."

"Well, Leila, my name is Dorothy." She pulled back the hood to reveal her pale face and white-blond hair. "We're going to be _really_ good friends from now on. Now, here's what I want you to do first."

* * *

_As I  
Adjust to my new sights  
The rarely tired lights  
Will take me to new heights  
_

_My hand is on the trigger  
I'm ready to ignite  
Tomorrow might not make it  
But everything's all right_

* * *

Relena yawned, stretching her hands far above her head. For once, it wasn't work that had kept her up late, but homework. It had been some time since she'd had to sit down and spend all evening on a school assignment. Part of her missed that mundane normality. The other part was like all teenagers and wondered why she had to bother with it.

Standing up from her desk, she headed out of the room. She needed to get some shuteye while she could still fit in a few hours. That was, assuming she could sleep. Her nights were plagued with dreams of Heero, memories of a time when he had been alive, and nightmares about his death. All she could do was imagine how it was, which was probably worse. Her mind exaggerated the event, she was sure, but knowing that didn't keep her from waking up in the middle of the night in tears.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, she caught a glimpse of a light blue glow coming from under the door to Duo's room. She'd assumed he'd already gone to bed. Reaching his door, she knocked once.

"Duo?" There was no reply. She tried knocking one more time, but still, there was no reply.

Hesitantly, she reached for the doorknob and turned. It was unlocked. Cautiously, she pushed it open, not wanting him to pull a gun on her or something. The light in the room was off, the blue glow coming from the laptop sitting on the table in his room. He'd left it on. She looked around the room. There was a small mess of shirts around the dresser which was the only indication besides the laptop that anyone lived in this room. The bed looked untouched, as if it was there only for decoration. Didn't he sleep?

Obviously, he wasn't anywhere in the room, but Relena wondered where he'd gone. The kitchen, perhaps? She hadn't heard the front door, so he had to still be in the house. She turned to go when she felt a breeze and looked over at the window, which was open. Well, never mind. He probably just slipped out that way.

Looking back at the laptop, she wondered what it was he was working on. She had a distinct feeling it had nothing whatsoever to do with school, but his investigations into who was responsible for Heero's death. Lately, he seemed to be always working on the laptop, except for when they were at school.

Relena's eyes lingered on the glowing screen and she wondered if she'd be able to see what he was doing. As she came closer, she realized he'd locked it, though. If she wanted to take a look at it she'd have to figure out the password. She highly doubted that he'd done something so simple as make Heero's name his password, though she tried it just for the sake of trying. She wasn't surprised when it didn't work. He was a Gundam pilot. He wouldn't do something so stupid. Deciding she'd just ask him in the morning where he'd gone off to, she left his room and went to bed.

In the morning, she got up early as always, glaring halfheartedly at her alarm clock. Just once, she'd like a chance to sleep in. Nevertheless, she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom where she showered and dressed before heading downstairs.

Passing Duo's room, she wondered what time he'd gotten back. Classes would start soon and it didn't sound like anyone was awake inside. She knocked a few times, but still, there was no reply. Trying the doorknob, she found it still unlocked.

"Duo?" she pushed it open and peered inside. It looked exactly like it did last night. Had he not come home, then? Before she could think about it further, there was the sound of the front door closing. She pulled his bedroom door shut and wandered toward the stairs. "Duo, is that you?"

She reached the top of the stairs and spotted him. He yawned as she watched him coming towards the stairs, motorcycle helmet swinging in one hand as he went. There were dark circles under his blood-shot eyes.

Where had he been? She hadn't realized she'd asked the question a loud until he answered.

"Around," was the evasive answer he gave to her as he passed. It was his way of answering without actually answering, and avoiding telling a lie altogether.

* * *

_Mental fiction follow me  
Show me what it's like to be set free_

_Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone)  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention_

* * *

Hilde eyed her companions at the workstation she was at for the day. Her hands automatically worked on the piece of machinery that lay in front of them. There were a number of other tables, all with groups working on more machinery. The machinery all pieces in the beginning stages of what would undoubtedly be a Gundam.

Turning her head slightly, she looked over at the man who stood at the next table over. He was the one in charge, at least, in charge of the mobile suit. He seemed to be the one with the knowledge of how to build a new one. Hilde wondered how and why he knew, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself by asking him.

Moving her gaze over to another table, her eyes narrowed. Of everyone there, she was sure the majority of them were mechanics and engineers. The ones at that table, though, she could tell were different. Not in the least because of how they appeared, but because rather than working on machinery, they were working on computers. They were probably creating the program that they would install later.

"Pst."

Hilde looked back at her table, at the dark-skinned man who worked across from her. He didn't look at her, continued instead to focus on what he was doing, but she was sure it had been him who had made that noise.

"They're coming over here," he added, proving her right.

Then, once his words registered, she bent her head and changed her attention to what her hands were doing. Not that she needed all her attention on what she was doing. She'd worked on so many mobile suits before, there were things she could get done without her brain being in on it. And the basic parts of a Gundam seemed to be the same as any mobile suit.

The man she'd watched a moment ago, trailed by two guards to ensure his safety among the prisoners turned worker, came by then. He walked around the table, watching all that they were doing. "Good, good," he said after walking around once. "Keep up the good work, gentlemen…and lady," he added, inclining his head towards Hilde. Turning around, he headed to the next table.

"Thanks," Hilde murmured to her companion once she was sure the guards were also out of hearing range.

"No problem," the man replied. Finally, he looked up, eyes following the guards before looking back at her. "Name's Dwayne Ferris." The three other people at her table were now looking up as well, and they nodded their head at Dwayne.

"Hilde Schbeiker." She looked around at the others. "How long have you guys been here?"

"I've lost track of time," an older man at the end said, voice tinted with a British accent. "One day I'm in my shop in a small town in England, next I'm here. No explanations, no nothing. Oh, the name's Winston Reed."

"They took my watch and cell phone," Dwayne added. "And in the beginning, I was just sitting in that room for so long, I couldn't tell if it'd been a day or a week."

Hilde nodded her head. "I know what you mean." She looked around subtly to see where the guards and their leader were before looking back at the table. "Are we all mechanics?"

"Engineer," Dwayne said. "And ex-soldier." He didn't add what side he'd fought on, and Hilde could understand that. Why stir trouble with someone he may have fought against?

"I am an engineer as well," adds the man next to Hilde. His quiet voice has a hint of a French accent. "My name is Luc Lavoie."

The last man, a short, tanned and balding guy, spoke up. "Which leaves me, then. Mario Torres, and I'm a jack-of-all-trades."

Hilde raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Owned a pawn shop in San Juan, then Buenos Aires before finally settling in New York," he explained. "I've fixed everything under the sun! Watches, kitchen appliances, weapons, mobile suits; you name it, I've probably fixed one before."

"A Gundam," Hilde supplied.

"Ah, okay, with that one exception," Mario retracted. "Oh, guards!"

Immediately, they all refocused their attention on their hands, and on what they were doing. Not one looked up, even as they heard the footsteps walking behind them, or saw from the corner of their eyes a guard leaning over someone. After a few minutes, he left and they were once again able to speak.

"I don't see the point in all this," Dwayne admitted. "What are they going for, World and Colony Domination or something?"

"Perhaps," Luc said. "But I am more concerned with what will happen to us."

Winston nodded his head. "Yes, should we finish this suit of theirs, what then? I very much doubt they'll let us go on our way."

"Probably not," agreed Hilde. "So, let's try and figure a way out of here before then."

"Are you mad?" Winston asked. "Is she mad?"

"Have you seen the security?" Mario asked. "It would take us ages to figure out a way out of here without getting shot first. We'd probably finish this suit long before then."

"Not if we purposely sabotage things," Hilde argued, lowering her voice even more, though there was no guard near them. "Work slower, take things apart whenever they're not watching."

"There are cameras—" Dwayne began, pointedly looking up at one not too far off.

"Oh, those aren't really recording anything," Mario informed them.

"How would you know?" Winston asked.

"I've worked on those types of cameras before," he replied. "Trust me, those are just for show." He turned to Hilde, grinning. "I like this idea, though."

Hilde looked over her shoulder, seeing the man in charge leaving and knowing that it meant they would dismiss them soon. They'd already been dismissed to eat, so this meant it was for the day. The guards would soon escort them all back to their rooms.

She turned back to her companions. "I'll pan out the details and let you guys know soon."

"You are very brave," Luc told her. "What if we get caught?"

"We'll deal with that if it happens," Hilde replied with a shrug. "And Dwayne's not the only ex-soldier. I can't just sit here and twiddle my thumbs to see what happens."

Before any of them could say anything else, the whistle blew for them to stop what they were doing. They looked at each other, nodding once, before going to the respective guard who would lead all those in a certain hall back to their rooms. For better or worse, they were in this together.

_So sorry you're not here  
__I've been sane too long my vision's so unclear  
Now take a trip with me  
But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem_

_Caught here in a fiery blaze  
Won't lose my will to stay  
These eyes won't see the same  
After I flip today_

* * *

"Duo, have you been sleeping?"

Duo looked up from the laptop to look over at Relena. She stood at the end of the library table he was working at, looking at him intently. There was no one else near them, and the librarian was far enough away that she wouldn't be hushing them every five seconds for talking.

"I've been busy," Duo replied, turning back to the computer. He was perusing through news sites, checking to see if anything seemed suspicious.

Relena went and sat in the chair across from him. "That's no excuse. I'm sure you don't need to be up twenty-four hours a day seven days a week to make progress on this."

Duo scoffed. "Not likely."

"Duo," Relena said as she shook her head at him. "Please ju—"

The bell ringing interrupted her and Duo immediately shut the laptop. "Oh, class. Can't be late, especially you, Miss Darlian."

Relena sighed as she stood and watched him go. It didn't take years of knowing him or a psychologist in behavioral science to know that Duo Maxwell was avoiding her. Or probably more accurate, avoiding the conversation on his behavior.

Duo decided to avoid class. Instead, he left the school and went back to Relena's place. For some reason, he couldn't think of it as his own, despite living there. It wasn't home. It was just a place where he kept his things; a home base.

Walking around back, he found an outdoor outlet to plug the computer into to charge and sat beneath a tree at the corner of the house. Briefly, he thought about the designer's stupidity. Sure, it looked nice, and it was nice to be able to sit beneath the tree, in the shade, and work on the computer. However, it was too close to the house. In a decade or so, the roots would start to break into the house's foundations. Who wanted roots breaking through the kitchen floor?

Turning back to the computer, he still could not focus on the article he'd been reading in the library. He knew Relena meant well, but this was how he coped. He had to be doing something, had to be working on finding the ones responsible for Heero's death, or he would lose it. His dreams gave him a glimpse of that.

His dreams couldn't even be called that. They were nightmares. Nightmares he couldn't wake up from. Heero was always in them; talking to him that final day, just before saving Duo's life; lying, unconscious, in the hospital bed. Or they went even farther back, to when they first met the time Duo shot him to save Relena's life; to when he'd been caught and Duo had been obliged to save him; to times when they'd shared a dorm room, working undercover.

No, Duo didn't want to sleep. Couldn't handle seeing all the opportunities he'd had and lost to at the very least tell Heero how he felt.

Therefore, he threw himself into his investigations. He worked day in and day out, taking a break to drive his motorcycle hard and fast down busy highways and deserted streets. Duo worked himself to exhaustion, to the point where he could barely keep his eyes open, knowing that at that point, he would be too tired to dream. He could rest, recover, and then begin the process all over again.

Sighing, he gave up trying to read the news article and leaned his head back against the trunk. Staring up at the canopy of leaves, he wondered briefly how he would manage if and when all this was over. If he lived through this, survived his revenge, what would he do? He couldn't imagine living the rest of his life this way.

He would find a way, though. Duo would keep his attentions now focused on his search, doing things to the best of his ability. And, although he wasn't sure which, living or dying in the end, appealed to him more, whatever happened, happened.

"Get to work," he muttered to himself. He had more important things to do than contemplate his life and things that might or might not eventually happen.

* * *

_Sometimes I don't know why  
We'd rather live than die  
We look up to the sky  
For answers to our lives_

_We may get some solutions  
But most just pass us by  
Don't want your absolution  
Cause I can't make it right_

_I'll make a beast out of myself  
Gets rid of all the pain of being a man_

_Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone)  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone)  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention_

_So sorry you're not here  
I've been sane too long my vision's so unclear  
Now take a trip with me  
But dont' be surprised when things aren't what they seem_

_I've known it from the start  
All these good ideas will tear your brain apart  
Scared but you can follow me  
I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die_

* * *

Note: Song is "Bat Country" by Avenged Sevenfold. And be thankful that today I got sick in the morning and had to skip work. I was able to check my email, saw a new review and story alert for this and decided I should finish the chapter, since it was already halfway done. Who'd have thought getting sick would turn out to be so productive?

Sao


End file.
